The Snake's Tears
by snakeboy33
Summary: "Maybe the reason the snake is biting the man's heel, is because the man is stepping on him." Seti Kemet is a reptilian Faunus, meaning he's everyone's enemy, whether he wants it or not. As he comes to Beacon, he faces all sorts of challenges, but it pales in comparison to what happens when his past begins to emerge.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

" **The snake only crawls on the ground because when it tries to stand, its head gets crushed."**

" _Its okay, Seti, you don't need to cry."_

" _But its not fair!" Seti cried, as Apophis held him close, "Why are they so mean?"_

" _They're all idiots," Apophis answered gently, "Don't let them get to you." Seti sniffled as he looked up._

" _They kept calling me a 'stupid snake', and that I was a monster," Seti said, "Am I a monster?"_

" _Never even think about that," Apophis said, grabbing the younger boy's shoulders, and making Seti look at him, "Carry yourself with pride. If you don't, you'll never be able to properly live." Seti sniffed again, as he wiped his tears slightly._

" _Why did they do it?" he asked, "They're Faunus, like us."_

" _No, they're not," Apophis said, "They're nothing like us." He then smiled. From his back, came a long scaly tail, which wiped one of Seti's tears away. From Seti's back, emerged a tail of his own, only with dark grey scales, as he intertwined his with Apophis'._

" _You and I are reptiles, and we will hold our status with pride and dignity," Apophis explained, "We will shed our skin, and emerge greater than they can ever hope to be." He then got to his feet, pulling up Seti as he did._

" _These mammals resign us to crawl on the ground, stepping on us as we do" he said. He then held up a clenched fist. From his head a scaled hood spread out._

" _But one day, they will be on the ground, and_ we _will step on_ them _. And they will know the fear we do," he continued, "We will emerge from the shadows, our venom will course through their veins, and the mammals will soon realize the terror that they gave to us." Seti smiled big at that._

" _I want to help!" the ten year old said, "I want to hurt mammals!" Apophis smiled right back, but it was not as warm._

" _And you will," he said, "The dragon rises."_

 _(Seven Years Later)_

Seti let out a gasp as he suddenly woke up, sitting up in bed. He looked around. He was in his one room apartment, consisting of only a bed, a toilet, a shower, a sink, and a TV.

"Damn," Seti said as he sat up from his bed, taken a breath, rubbing his forehead, "What's with all the memories now?" He walked across his one room apartment to his sink, and splashed some water in his face. Seti then looked at his face in the mirror, at his grey slitted eyes, and the matches of dark grey scales around his eyes, and on jaw. He got out his toothbrush, and quickly brushed his teeth. After doing that, he opened his mouth, revealing then black inside. Seti lifted up his lip, taking a quick look at one of his fangs.

"Leaking venom again," he muttered, "Can't show that at school." Seti then turned on the faucet, filling up his sink, after which he quickly washed his hands. He then walked over to his bed. Seti's tail then reached over, picking up his bag. He then promptly packed his clothes up, and once that was done, he knelt down, and pulled out one of the floorboards. He then picked dual khopesh out of the space beneath it, with black hilts. They were his personal weapons, Wadjet and Nekhbet. The swords then folded in on their blades, forming what could be almost described as a pistols with bayonets. He then hung both on his belt.

"The dragon falls," the black mamba Faunus muttered as he slung his bag over his shoulder, and left his room, saying sarcastically, "Look out Beacon, here comes Seti Kemet."

 **Note: I figured we need more reptilian faunus fics. I am aware of the "rules" of Faunus in-universe, so no on needs to tell me about them. For the sake of this story, I'm going to have to bend the rules of Faunus slightly; I'm not necessarily changing the standing rules for Faunus, so much as I'm adding onto them for reptiles. But I think we'll all live.**

 **I know this was short, but its a prologue. There's a lot to come later. The pairing in this story is undecided, but I would like there to be some if possible.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	2. Seti Kemet

**_Seti Kemet_**

Seti stared out the window, as he watched the world pass beneath him. He never liked flying. No matter how big the transport was, he felt cramped inside of it, not to mention all the people. Before boarding it, he had wrapped his tail around his body, so as to hide it from the others. The only thing that betrayed his status as a Faunus were the dark grey scales on his face, and his equally dark eyes. But even those could not be seen unless one looked closely. Aside from his dark scales, everyone about him screamed black. He had short, black hair (which was in contrast to his pale skin), wore a black leather jacket, black shirt, and a black leather jacket. Wadjet and Nekhbet were both on his belt, folded in their gun form.

"In other news, recent Faunus protests turned violent after the once peaceful White Fang organization involved itself in it," a news reporter said on the TV screen. Seti rather stopped paying attention after that, rolling eyes. Mammals whining about how they're treated so badly, and take no issue when someone else suffers worse? How typical.

The news screen then flashed away, showing one of the teachers from Beacon giving some kind of welcome speech, which Seti ignored, as he continued to stare out the window. A young man about his age ran past him, clearly looking sick. He then heard a couple of girls complain about the vomit. Seti rolled his eyes at that. Mammals had no control over their gag reflex.

Eventually, the transport docked, and everyone disembarked. Seti looked up at the massive structure that made up Beacon Academy. He had to admit that it was more than a little impressive. But the mamba couldn't help but wonder how many reptilians that could host.

As he was walking through the courtyard, his attention was suddenly seized by the sound of an explosion. Seti glanced over, and saw two girls, one in red, the other in white. He didn't recognize the former, but he definitely recognized the latter. Weiss Schnee, of the Schnee family. Everything Seti had heard said that they were the enemies of all Faunus, though their treatment of reptiles wasn't exceptionally bad. Though maybe it was because the treatment from everyone was all equally poor, so Seti didn't have a point of comparison. A bottle of red dust rolled over to Seti, who bent down, and picked it up.

"Give that back!" the Schnee demanded, walking up to him, and pointing a finger in Seti's face, "That is pure dust, some of the best in all the kingdoms. And I don't want you breaking it!"

"Hey!" the girl in red protested, "Leave him alone! He didn't do anything!"

"That is correct," Seti said, "I didn't have anything to do with this."

"You're holding Schnee property, and not giving it back," Weiss said, "As far as I'm concerned, that makes you a part of this." Seti rolled his eyes, as he handed it back to the white haired girl.

"Thank you!" Weiss said.

"Happy now, Princess?" the red girl asked.

"Queen would be more accurate," a new voice said. Everyone turned to see a girl with black hair, and a black, and dressed in black standing nearby, her nose in a book. Despite himself, Seti couldn't help but think she was rather pretty.

"Weiss Schnee, heir to the Schnee Company," the girl said, "One of, if not the most powerful dust company in the world."

"Glad to see at least someone has a brain," Weiss said, before turning on her heels, "Now I've got better things to do than deal with you."

"Well she's just a ray of sunshine, isn't she?" the girl in red asked, looking towards the two in black. However, they were both walking. Well, more accurately, the girl was walking away, Seti was just following her.

"Schnees," Seti said, "Think they own the entire world."

"They almost do," the girl said, not looking up from her book.

"My name's Seti Kemet." The girl was silent for a time.

"Blake Belladona."

"I like your taste in color," Seti said, "All these other colors are really garish." He then looked over her shoulder at the book.

" _The Soul in the Mirror_ , right?" he asked.

"Yes," Blake said plainly. Alright, Seti was stating to lose his patience. He didn't like mammals, but he was willing to give at least one the benefit of the doubt. Plus he could tell something about this girl, something he wanted to confirm.

"So what else do you read?" he asked.

"Other things," Blake said. That was it. Seti wasn't going to let her dodge him like this after how he was trying to be friendly like that.

"You're a Faunus." Blake ground to a halt, and looked over her shoulder in shock. Seti was standing still, looking straight at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Seti interrupted her.

"Don't bother denying it," he said, "I can taste it." Blake stared at Seti in shock.

"How…" Seti's answer was for his forked, black tongue to slip out of his lips, and lick the air briefly.

"You're…"

"A reptilian Faunus," Seti finished, as his tail slipped out from under his jacket, extending out until it was longer than he was tall. Blake just stared in shock, as she took a slight step back. Seti scowled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I….," Blake began.

"No, I understand," Seti sneered, "Don't want to be in the presence of a snake. I'll go slither back into my hole." He then turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Blake said, as she moved forward, accidentally stepping on Seti's tail in the process.

"YEOW!" Seti said, "Watch it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Blake said, stepping back. Seti brought his tail up, massaging it slightly.

"I apologize for acting like that," Blake said, "I'm just… a little surprised. You're the first reptilian I've seen." And that was the truth. She had heard a lot about reptilian Faunus, but had never actually seen one surprisingly. Seti took a breath, as he let it tail go. He could hear the sincerity in her voice.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "I was being a tad hostile there. Its just…."

"I understand," Blake answered, nodding. No she didn't. A mammal couldn't understand what it was like to be a reptile in this world. Seti sighed, offering a hand.

"Let's start over," he said. Blake nodded, before shaking his hand. The two then began to walk together.

"So how did you know?" she asked.

"The tongue knows," Seti answered, flicking his black tongue, "Comes in really handy."

"I can imagine," Blake said, "I've got the standard night vision, and some good hearing, but not much else."

"Hate to cut this short, but we should head towards the auditorium," Seti said, "You never know what we might miss." Blake agreed, and the two headed out, after Blake gave confirmation about where the auditorium was. Seti wrapped his tail around his torso again. He wasn't sure about outing himself as a snake in a place like that.

 **(in the dormitories)**

Seti was very thankful that Ozpin's speech lasted the amount of time it did. He wasn't a patient faunus, and long, drawn out speeches made him uneasy. At the time, he was setting out a blanket for the night, against the window. Everything had been going well so far, until he was adjusting his pajamas. That was when his tail slipped out. It didn't take long for people to react.

"EEEK!" a girl cried, "A snake!" All eyes were suddenly on Seti, whose tail was now fully out. There were all sorts of insults that were being shouted out at him, but they were mostly "gross", and its synonyms; several people pulled their blankets away from him. Seti noticed Blake looking at him with a sympathetic expression. Standing near to her were three other girls, including the Schnee girl, the girl in red, and a new girl with long blonde hair. The mamba ignored them, he had heard it all before. Fortunately none of them decided to come closer, but one guy was the exception.

"Hey, snake!" one guy with short brown hair called. Seti glanced at him.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"You shouldn't be here!" the guy said, getting up in Seti's face, "Go back under your rock!" The mamba could hear some people voicing agreements.

"Can I get your name, at least, first?" Seti asked.

"My name's Cardin, and I don't think you cold blooded monsters should interact with humans!"

"'Cold blooded monster'? Really? That's the best you can come up with?" Cardin glared at him, and shoved him slightly.

"I said go back under your rock! You don't belong here!"

"And yet I'm here, and you're going to have deal with it, now don't touch me again."

"What're you going do about it?" Cardin demanded, as he moved to shove Seti again.

*SMACK

There was a silence, as Seti set his tail back down. Everyone stared at the two, as Cardin brought his hand up to his cheek, so shocked he couldn't be angry.

"Did he just smack him the face with his tail?" the girl in yellow asked.

"Be thankful that it was just my tail," Seti said, "Next time it might be my fangs." He then opened his mouth, and showed off his fangs. Cardin got the message, and finally backed off. Seti then looked at the people who were still staring at him.

"Alright," he said, "I guess I've got to make somethings clear." He then cleared his throat.

"Yes, I am a reptilian faunus, yes I am a snake, yes I am cold blooded, no I don't shed my skin, yes I do have a forked tongue, and finally, yes, I _am_ venomous. So if you don't want to see _how_ venomous I am, don't cross me." Not bothering to gauge their reactions, Seti lay down with his backs to his classmates, laying his tail out in the open.

For a brief period, Seti had some peace, but then, all of a sudden, he felt someone approaching. He glanced off his shoulder, and noticed the girl in red standing next to him.

"Hi," the girl said, waving gently, smiling. Seti rolled his eyes.

"Move along," he said, looking away, "You don't want to interact with a snake."

"I just wanted to say good job with that guy," the girl said, "I don't like bullies." Seti sighed, as he sat up, and looked at her.

"I'm Seti," he said.

"I'm Ruby," the girl answered, before looking over her shoulder, "Yang!"

"Ruby!" the girl in yellow said, hurrying over, "Don't go talking to strangers!"

"This is my sister, Yang." Seti eyed the blonde, standing up.

"You were apparently talking to Blake pretty freely, earlier," he said, "I imagine you don't want your sister interacting with a snake." Yang stumbled over her words slightly.

"No!" she said, waving her hands, "I've got no problem with faunus, reptilian or not." Seti looked over her and sighed. He then coiled his tail on the ground, and boosted himself up, balancing on his tail.

"Wow!" Ruby said, "That's cool!"

"Look, you don't want to be associated with me," Seti said, "Reptiles don't make good company."

"I don't have a problem with you being a snake," Ruby said, smiling, "I actually kind of like snakes, they're cool. Except for King Taijitus, though." Seti flicked his tongue, analyzing the girls briefly. One smelt of roses, the other smelt of gunpowder. Though he noticed Yang looking somewhat offset by his tongue.

"Well, it was nice meeting you both," he said, "But I need to get under the blanket. As I said, I'm cold blooded. I need all the warmth I can afford." With that, he went back onto his feet, again, and went back under his blanket, his back to the sisters. It took a while, before he could feel the two walked away again.

 **Note: This was basically supposed to be an exchange to establish Seti as a character more. I hope Blake didn't seem out of character, herself. Take note about Seti's tail, its quite long, longer than he's tall. But its not particularly thick, since black mambas are a pretty slender snake.**

 **If anyone's interested, they're free to try and draw Seti.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	3. A Snake in the Locker

_**A Snake in a Locker**_

Seti was unlucky to be a light sleeper, as it meant he got very little sleep, because there were apparently _a lot_ of snorers in this year. So when he got up the next morning, he felt only barely rested. After getting up, showering, and brushing his teeth, Seti took notice to a guy in green with black hair, and a girl in pink with orange hair, but didn't pay much attention. But he did hear something about sloths.

Seti came to the locker room, where he had stored his weapons. He noticed a couple of familiar faces when he came in, including Ruby and Yang. To try and wake himself up, he banged his head on his locker.

"That's probably not going to actually help," a girl with long red hair, dressed in armor said, as she walked past. Seti, knowing very well she was right, instead opened his locker, and pulled out his weapons.

"Whoa," Ruby said, coming over to the Faunus, and looking at his blades, "I've never seen swords like those before."

"They're called khopesh," Seti explained, holding up the two, "They can also turn into pistols with bayonets." To demonstrate, the swords clicked into pistol form.

"What're they called?"

"Wadjet," Seti said, holding up one with a snake coiled around the guard, and then holding up the other with a vulture on the guard, "and Nekhbet."

"Cool names," Ruby said, as she unfolded her scythe, and cuddled it slightly, "This is my partner, Crescent Rose." Seti couldn't help but shiver at how "attached" the girl seemed to be to what was actually just a tool. That was Seti's philosophy, Wadjet and Nekhbet were gears and metal, nothing more, nothing less. Slipping his blades onto his belt, Seti looked over at Yang, who as putting on her own weapons.

"Gauntlets with shotguns?" the Faunus guessed.

"Good guess," Yang answered, "Ember Cecilia. Our dad got these weapons made for us based on our fighting style."

"Where'd you get your weapons?" Ruby asked. Seti opened his mouth but paused.

"A friend gave me them," he answered, "Back when I was a kid."

"That reminds me," Ruby asked, "What's your semblance?" Seti made a slight face, as his tongue lashed out briefly.

"You… don't want to know," he answered, "Its not pleasant."

"Ah, come on!" Ruby said, "What's so unpleasant about it?"

"Again, you don't want to know," Seti said, before deciding to change the subject, "So, I imagine you two are going to be on a team?"

"Well…," Yang said, looking away slightly. Ruby did not take kindly to that.

"My dear sister, Yang," the younger sister said, marching up to the elder, and poking her in the chest, "Are you implying you don't want to be on a team with me?" The mamba couldn't help but chuckle slightly, as he left the siblings to their (admittedly comedic) exchange, closing his locker with his tail as he did. As he was walking away, he passed a blonde guy the same age as him, looking somewhat lost.

"Looking for something?" Seti asked.

"My locker," the guy answered, looking at some notes, "I thought it put in one locker, but it turn…" He then looked up at the Faunus, and recoiled back.

"Aren't you that snake Faunus from last night!" he said, pointing. Seti rolled his reptilian eyes.

"What gave it away? The tail?' he asked sarcastically, waving it behind him.

"Don't think I'm prejudiced, or anything!" the blonde said, waving his hands, "I've got nothing against snakes. It was actually kind of cool the way you slapped that guy in the face with your tail." Seti flicked his tongue at the boy. Not much in the way of scent, but there was a faint trace of steel, and maybe a little bit of… ahem… vomit. That was Seti generally did when meeting a new person; you could tell a lot about a mammal by their scent; or perhaps taste was more accurate.

"Seti Kemet."

"Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, the ladies love it." Seti stared at him.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"My dad said it would work," Jaune admitted, "He said that's how he got my mom."

"Then your dad must've fortunate a lucky man," Seti answered. Jaune then glanced over, and saw the Schnee girl, with the red head that gave advice to Seti earlier.

"Just watch me," Jaune said with a wink, before swinging over towards the girls, and coming up to the Schnee, and repeating his pickup line.

"Hello Jaune!" the red head said, sticking her head out, waving. She was obviously smitten, but Jaune apparently didn't pick it up. Seti was tempted to use his tail again to slap some sense into Jaune. Weiss was obviously not very found of the blonde's attempts at flirting, though the red head was still obviously crushing on him.

"Aren't you that snake?" Weiss asked, eyeing Seti.

"Funny you're the second mammal to ask me that almost exact question in the past ten minutes," Seti said, eyeing her back. He flicked his tongue out at them to check them out. Pyrrha smelt predominantly of steel, while Weiss smelt like fresh snow, and some traces of pure Dust, which Seti thought was too be suspected.

"Ew!" Weiss said, "Don't flick your tongue like that!"

"Do I whine when you flare your nostrils?" Seti asked.

"Its not unpleasantly obvious when we smell," Weiss said, "Its for reasons like that, that the Schnee Company doesn't hire reptilians."

"Considering the Schnee's reputation of treating its Faunus employees, you aren't going to get any complaints from us," Seti answered

"To get this conversation back on track!" Jaune said, trying to put attention back on him, as he came up to Weiss, "I understand that we're going to be making teams. Well, I think you and I will make an excellent one."

"You can't be serious," Weiss said.

"Teams are generally four people each," the red head said. That finally got Jaune's attention on her.

"Well good looking, if you play your cards right, maybe I'll be on your team," he said, coming up to her, though unlike Weiss, she didn't seem to have much a problem with it.

"Easy sailor," Seti said, rolling his eyes.

"Alright!" Weiss said, putting herself in between the two, "Clearly, neither of you know who you're talking to."

"Should we?" Seti asked.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos, top of her class at Sanctum."

"Hello all!"

"Not ringing any bells," Seti said.

"Four time champion of Mistral Regional Tournament," Weiss said.

"Never heard of it," Jaune said.

"She's on front of every single box of Pumpkin Peter's Marshmallow Flakes!" Weiss snapped angrily. Jaune let out a gasp.

"That's you!" he said, "That's freaking awesome! I eat that cereal all the time!"

"Thanks, but you probably shouldn't," Pyrrha said, "The cereal's not very good for you." Eyes then went to Seti, looking at him expectingly, who just shrugged.

"Sorry, but now," he said, "Never ate the cereal."

"Then what did you at?" Jaune asked.

"Possums mostly," Seti answered, "I bite them and their dead in minutes, after which I swallow them whole." The boy and two girls stared at him, an appalled expression on their faces.

"That was a joke," Seti said deadpanned.

"I'd work on your sense of humor," Jaune said.

"Well, regardless," Weiss said, turning her attention Jaune, "What makes you think that you'd be qualified to be on a team with Pyrrha? Is there anything you've got?" Jaune's face dropped.

"I guess not," he said.

"Well I can't speak for Pyrrha," Seti said, "But I'm certainly not intent on being on a team with you, Schnee."

"The feeling's mutual, snake," Weiss said, glaring at him. Seti flicked his tongue at her again, as the girl huffed, and walked away.

"I wouldn't mind being a team with you, actually," Pyrrha said to Jaune, "I think you'd make a great team mate?"

"Really?" Jaune asked.

"Really!" Pyrrha said firmly. Jaune then looked at Seti, apparently expecting something out of him again. The mamba just shrugged.

"Hey, if we end up on a team together, there won't be any protests on my end," he said.

"Well, thanks," Jaune said. As Pyrrha took off, Seti came up to Jaune.

"You might want to rethink your way of picking up girls," he said, patting the blonde on the shoulder.

"How do you do it?" Jaune asked. Seti gave him a look.

"You think girls are really lining up to go out with me?" he asked, lashing his tongue briefly as a demonstration.

"Point taken," Jaune said.

" _All first years, please report to Beacon cliffs for initiation,"_ the PA said.

"I'd take slightly longer showers by the way," Seti muttered to Jaune, "You still smell of vomit." With that, he walked away, leaving Jaune staring at him, looking somewhat surprised.

As he was heading towards the assigned location, Seti pondered about the idea of teams. Honestly, he doubted that many people would be interested on being on a team with him. Maybe he'd be wrong, but experience generally told him different, unless he was lucky. Ruby or Blake seemed like potential teammate candidates, but even that was only a maybe.

He wasn't sure what the initiation would entail, but from what he had heard, it would probably be rather "hazardous". That much Seti could bet his venom on.

 **(on the Beacon cliffs)**

Seti wasn't paying attention to Ozpin's speech. He didn't care in the slightest about the potential and danger of the students and the forest respectively (or maybe that was the other way around). He wasn't worried, not in the slightest. If one knew Seti's past, they would certainly understand.

Soon enough, the springboards began the process of launching the students-to-be into the air, towards the forest. Wrapping his tail around his body, so it didn't get tangled in his legs while flying, Seti braced himself.

"The dragon falls," he muttered, as he was launched into the air as well.

 **Note: While I was working on this chapter, my primary issue is which direction to take it. I'm not going to follow canon exactly, and I hope to eventually expand the point of view beyond just Seti. I figured it would be appropriate to see other characters' perspectives on him.**

 **The following chapter will obviously continue the initiation, as Seti tries to establish himself. The major deviations will probably not happen for a few more chapters at least.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	4. The Freelancer

_**The Freelancer**_

As Seti plummeted towards the ground, he quickly ran his landing options; it didn't take him long to settle on one. Taking out Wadjet and Nekhbet, as he came down to a tree, the curved blades hooked on a branch, as he flipped up onto it. Seti took a breath, and would've wiped his brow if he could sweat. Looking out over the distance, he saw several other forms descending into the forest. And he could feel like he could hear what sounded like a little girl screaming, or maybe it was Jaune.

As a snake Faunus, Seti was a great climber. With a flexible body, and a long tail, he could slither up and down trees as easily as walking down the road, which was exactly what he did after hooking his swords on his belt. After getting back to terra firma, he looked around. Nothing distinguishable, but he remembered Ozpin's terms, and what he had to do. Seti also remembered that the first person he makes eye contact with, was to be his partner. With that in mind, Seti descended to the ground, and pressed his ear to it. As a snake, he could detect tiny vibrations in the ground, which alerted him to a nearby presence. He could feel plenty of vibrations, but none of them close enough to be discernible. So with that, the mamba darted into the forest.

His tongue lashing through the air, Seti kept alert for any possible threat. He knew that these forests were well populated with Grimm, and he'd rather not run into that many if possible. Grimm had relatively little scent, but what little scent they did was very distinct. Seti also kept his tongue alert for other students.

"Who would I want as a teammate?" he asked out loud. He ran down the list of people he had actually met and interacted with. There was Blake; she was a Faunus like him, and was also apparently a fellow fan of the color black, but she did seem rather withdrawn, and Seti wasn't 100% sure he trusted her yet. There was Ruby; she said she liked snakes, and she seemed nice enough, but then again, Seti's experience with mammals said that the smaller the mammal, the weaker they were; he'd love Ruby to prove him wrong, but he wasn't going to gamble on that in this. There was Yang; Seti knocked her off the list rather quickly; he hadn't interacted with her nearly enough. Finally, there was Jaune; but Seti would rather not have the blonde slowing him down; besides, it would probably be best for Jaune if he ended on a team with Pyrrha.

"Wow," Seti said, stopping dead in his tracks, "I really have no one to be my partner, do I?" The snake sighed, as he leaned back on his tail, and stared at the sky, thinking about what to do. Forming a team was apparently a sort of requirement for the initiation, but from the looks of things, Seti wouldn't be joining one. He wondered what would happen then. Chances are he'd be kicked out before he even enrolled. Well, at least he was used to being kicked out of places by this point.

Seti's attention was then claimed by new scent. His tongue lashing out, probing the air. The scent was unpleasant, like bitter smoke with an acidic undertone. He knew that smell.

Diving out of the way just as a Grimm sprung at him. Seti drew his swords, and held them at the ready. The Grimm attacking him was called a "Wendigo". It distinguished itself from other Grimm with its almost human-like, white face, only with much sharper features, like a pointed chin and a hooked nose, with red markings. It had long arms, ending in large hands with long thin claws. It had powerful legs that bent back, ready to jump, and when at its full height, it was a little taller than twice Seti's height.

"Well at least something's happening," Seti said, as he noticed three other Wendigos emerge from the trees. Cracking his neck, Seti took a battle stance. The Wendigos then all sprung at him. Seti easily avoided the attack, and clicked his khopesh into their gun forms, and started firing at the beasts. However, since both Wadjet and Nekhbet were low calibre, they didn't do much damage as they were, and the Wendigos attacked again.

Deciding to change tactics, Seti fell to his belly, and actually slithered across the ground like the snake he was, twisting through the legs of the Grimm faster then they could see. Seti's speed wasn't a semblance, but a natural ability. As a black mamba, Seti was exceptionally fast, capable of outrunning any human, or in this case, any Grimm.

As he came under one of the Wendigos, he took Wadjet and used it to take the beast's leg off, causing it to collapse to the ground, after which Seti rose to his feet, and plunged Nekhbet into its neck. Not bothering to watch it die, Seti then slithered out of the way to avoid another Wendigo's claws.

After rising to his feet, one Wendigo tried to come up from behind, only for Seti to move out of the way, and catch the Grimm's neck in Nekhbet's curve. Then quickly clicking Wadjet into its gun mode, he stuck it in the Grimm's eye, and fired, blowing a hole in its head. At this point, there were two Wendigo left. Seti cracked his neck and flexed his tail.

"Who's next?" he asked. Both Wendigos leapt at him, and Seti darted between them. He then quickly slithered back, and then began to actually clamber up one of the beast's back. As the Wendigo reached back to claw him, Seti opened his mouth, and sank his fangs into the beast's shoulder. After injecting as much venom as he could, Seti leapt off. The Wendigo slashed at the air, stumbling as the venom took effect. It wasn't long before it collapsed, incapacitated, but not dead yet.

The last Wendigo, let out an enraged howl, and charged Seti, but this time the mamba only slightly sidestepped it, avoiding the claws. Seti then grabbed the Grimm's wrist, and before it could do anything, he activated his semblance. The Wendigo's arm then seemed to wilt and wither, before it moved up to its body. The Wendigo could only howl, as it soon was nothing more than a withered husk, as it collapsed to the ground. It wasn't dead yet, but a quick stab to the head remedied that. Meanwhile, the envenomated Wendio hadn't died yet, but it had no hope of surviving, so Seti ignored it, leaving it to moan.

Seti's semblance was an unpleasant one: desiccation. He was able to drain moisture from anything he touched at will. It wasn't instantaneous death, and it was relatively easy to reverse, but if one didn't get water soon, death was a certainty. Seti's venom was also very potent, capable of blinding someone in twenty minutes, paralyzing in thirty, and killing in sixty, unless someone got the anti-venom, which Seti always carried on his person. Fortunately for him, Seti couldn't run out of venom, he simply produced it like someone produced spit, and as long as he bit in the right place, quick death was guaranteed. A "good" place, constituted in the body, or neck. A bite in the arm or leg, however, could take longer. But Seti was nothing if not precise.

There was a saying amongst snake Faunus: "A strong strike can be rendered useless with bad precision". That held very true for many snakes, and Seti was no exception. Snake Faunus came in two variations: the stronger but slower constrictors, and weaker but faster envenomators, and while the two were fundamentally different, they both relied heavily on precision. That was the way of the snake, strike with precision, and decisiveness.

Seti cracked his neck, before diving back into the forest. He needed to find his way through here if he didn't want to be expelled.

 **(sometime later)**

After wandering around for an extended period of time, Seti was tasting the air, before he decided to check the ground for vibrations again. Falling to the ground, and pressing his ear to ground, Seti could faintly sense some vibrations in the distance again. With that in mind, he head in that direction. As he got closer, Seti could start to hear the sounds of fighting, and the screech of a Nevermore.

Eventually, the snake Faunus emerged from the trees, and saw a series of ruins. Within the ruins, Seti could notice a group of people gathered in the ruins. Instinctively remaining inside the trees, Seti looked closely. Aside from the group by the ruins, there was one person, who Seti recognized as Pyrrha, being chased by a giant Death Stalker. Glancing up, Seti noticed a Nevermore flying over head, and he thought he could see a girl in white hanging onto at one of its claws. Flicking his tongue, Seti scanned the people present: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, and the two who were talking about sloths.

As those humans and the cat Faunus did whatever it was they were doing, Seti debated what to do. Seeing as there eight people, chances are they all had their teams dictated, so Seti would end up being a fifth (or potentially seventh) wheel. There was also the matter that Seti wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to get involved in what was a mammal's battle. They were the ones who had brought the Grimm, why should Seti get involved? Besides, they seemed to be doing fine on their own. So with that in mind, Seti leaned on a tree, and watched.

The battle progressed relatively smoothly, moving to a cliff face, as Seti watched continued to watch from the shadows, observing their fighting styles. One fighting style that particularly intrigued him was Blake's. She may have been a cat, but her fighting style was almost like that of his own: fast and precise. She seemed to know exactly when and where she needed so strike, like a snake. Of course, snake and cat styles of fighting were not that different to begin with, when Seti thought about it.

"Enjoying the show?" Seti turned, and saw Ozpin coming up behind him.

"Professor," Seti said respectively. Ozpin looked him over.

"A snake Faunus," he noted, sipping his mug, "You're the first of your kind to come to Beacon."

"Will that… be an issue?"

"No reason it would be. If anything, you're kin should be proud." That may have been a compliment, but Seti felt somewhat offended. This guy clearly didn't know where his kin were, and what life was like for them. Seti wasn't doing proud by them, if anything they probably saw him as sucking up to the mammals. But it wants' like Seti could say that.

"Thank you, sir," he said instead. Ozpin took another swig, watching the teams do battle.

"Seems you don't have a team of your own, though." Seti winced. Here it came…

"Yes it does."

"Relax, not having a team doesn't mean you'll be expelled," Ozpin said, "There is nothing saying that a team can't have five members. So with that, which team would you think would be ideal?" Seti blinked, as he looked at the others. He thought about being on the team with all girls. Being on a team with a Schnee? Not on his life. The half and half team? Seti knew that he'd just be a fifth wheel in a group that clearly had lots of synchronicity.

"I… don't know," he admitted, "I honestly don't think any team would really suit me."

"Is that so?" Ozpin asked.

"I'm a snake," Seti said, "I don't mesh well with others." Ozpin thought about that for a team.

"Very well," he said, "Then there is a simple solution. You will be a free lancer."

"A free lancer?"

"A hunter who has jumps from team to team, fully pledging himself to none. You would go work both of those two teams as you see fit, as well as any other teams you might wish to hunt with." That caught the mamba off guard. The idea of being mostly, if not completely, independent of a team seemed strange. But it also seemed like something that would be right up his alley. Seti worked well alone, and was not one to really fit into a singular station, which being in a team would probably give.

"Alright then," Seti said, "Then that's what I'll do. Thank you, Professor."

"Think nothing of it," Ozpin answered, taking another sip, and glancing at the team, which had slain both Grimm, "Seems that these two teams are going to go forward in life."

 **(later, in the assembly hall)**

Seti watched from the sidelines as all the teams were formed. He took notice to Team RWBY and Team JNPR, the two teams that he watched the fight. He couldn't help but smile. As a free lancer, Seti got to choose which teams he would work with, and both those teams seemed like they ould be good to work with. Of course Schnee still din't seem particularly good to work with.

After the ceremony was over, Seti decided to approach the teams. Coming up to RWBY, he waved.

"Yo!" he said.

"Seti!" Ruby said with a smile.

"Congratulations on your team," Seti said.

"I didn't see you up there," Ruby said, "What team are you on?"

"I'm not on any team," Seti answered, "Ozpin decided I would be a free lancer. I'd work with alone, mostly."

"So you're on your own?" Yang asked.

"In a sense yes, but I can actually work with any team I want," Seti explained.

"That's cool," Ruby said, "So you can work with us, right?"

"Working with a snake, I don't think so!" Weiss said. Blake just shrugged at the notion.

"Well I'd get used to the idea," Seti said, grinning, before walking away. As he did, Ruby looked at her teammates.

"I guess that would make us Team RWBYS," she said.

 **Note: I would like to thank a friend of mine, who worked as my storyboard, helping me think of certain details, including making Seti a free lancer. I knew he wouldn't really work on either team, and making a completely new team for him would call for another three OCs to be made, in addition to the one I've already got, and the ones that will appear in the future.**

 **It stands mentioning that the black mamba is one of, if not the fastest snake in the world. Its also one of the most venomous, top 5 easily. And since Seti's a black mamba Faunus, he has mamba capabilities.**

 **Be sure to review. I notice I'm getting plenty of followers and faves, so if you're following, you can review.**


	5. A Day at School

_**A Day at School**_

Oobleck may have been saying something important, but Seti didn't give a damn; he hated history, it was his absolute least favorite subject. Why? Because history was written by the winners, which was to say, the mammals. Reptilian Faunus had been active players in the past, including the Great War, where they would launch cover operations in harsh environments. Of course, not a single mention of them in any history book; Seti didn't know what mammal Faunus were whining so much about, at least their existence was acknowledged.

But the Great War was nothing compared to how mad the Faunus Rights Revolution made Seti. When the activists said they were fighting for "rights", they meant rights for mammals. No reptilian's situation improved after the Revolution, if anything, some got it worse. It impressed Seti to no end, how individuals could claim their fighting for equality, but ultimately fail to give equality for certain groups.

"Mr. Kemet." History generally only told the story people wanted to hear. And those people were, more often than not, not interested in hearing that many stories.

"Mr. Kemet." Mammals didn't seem to like someone other than them getting credit for anything, especially some kind of great accomplishments. Admittedly reptilians didn't have that many in the way of great accomplishments by comparison, though mammals didn't give reptilians that much of a chance.

"Mr. Kemet." Seti often wondered what would happen if reptilians were the "winners", how things would've gone differently. Maybe…

Suddenly a pencil thonked Seti in the forehead, breaking him out of his thoughts. The Faunus looked around, and saw a lot of people looking at him. Apparently it was Ruby who threw the pencil. Oobleck was staring at him expectantly. Seti flushed all the way to his darkest scales.

 **(sometime later)**

After the history class was a sparring session with Professor Glynda. This Seti could and would deal with. There was no problem with a spar between frien…. acquaintances, they weren't Seti's friends yet.

"Alright, the first session will be between Nora Valkyrie, and Seti Kemet," Glynda announced.

"Alright!" Nora said, jumping to her feet, and grinning at Seti, "Get ready to get your tail kicked!" Seti just glanced at her, before deciding to instead jump down to the arena.

"I'm ready when you are," he said, spinning Wadjet and Nekhbet through his fingers. Nora just smirked, as she also jumped down to his level. Seti briefly lashed his tongue, analyzing the orange haired girl. Of all things, she melt like ozone, like a storm.

"Begin!" Nora was the first to move, deciding to charge Seti outright. The mamba managed to evade her easily using his natural speed, slithering away.

"Wow," Ruby said, "He's really fast."

"I have heard black mambas are the fastest snakes in the world," Blake said.

"Does he have to do it like that?" Weiss said, "It looks really weird." Seti slithered around Nora, who continued to and strike him with her hammer.

"What is this, a game of Wac-A-Snake?" Seti grumbled, as he avoided another strike. He then sprung at Nora, slashing his swords at her, only to be blocked with Magnhild.

"That all you got?" Nora asked with a smirk, pushing Seti off. Magnhild then turned into its gun-form, and shot at Seti, who managed to leap out of the way. He then clicked Wadjet and Nekhbet into their gun forms, and managed to destroy some of the grenades that Nora had fired at him. Seti then leapt at Nora again, bringing down his blades, which Nora easily blocked, and pushed him off. But as he was moving back, Seti lashed his tail around Nora's arm, and yanked. But Nora overpowered him, and sent the mamba slamming into the ground. Seti quickly slithered out of the way to avoid being struck by Magnhild.

"Why don't either of them use their Semblance?" Ruby asked.

"Nora's Semblance is based on electricity, so unless Seti can use it, then she can't," Ren said, "But I don't know Seti's Semblance." There was a pretty simple reason why Seti wasn't using his Semblance: if he did, there was a good chance that he'd end up killing Nora. Completely draining a girl of water generally didn't do anything good for anyone. As things stood, this was obviously a strength vs speed fight. As an envenomator, Seti may have been fast, but he wasn't particularly strong With that in mind, Seti slithered at Nora again, going for her legs, in hopes of knocking her down.

"Sorry, buddy, but can't let you constantly slither like that!" Nora said. With that, she held up her hammer, and slammed it into the ground. The resulting shockwave brought Seti's slithering rhythm, knocking him off coil. This allowed Nora to leap at him, and bring down her he slithered past his opponent, Seti lashed his tail around Nora's ankle. The plan was to yank her off her feet, allowing for Seti to get the apprehend. But unfortunately, Nora proved stronger than she looked, as instead, she yanked her leg, and pulled Seti over to him. But when she brought her hammer down, the mamba managed to slither over her body, and out of her way.

"Ooh," Nora said, with a smirk, "Getting a little touch feely, are we?" Seti's scales flared slightly red again. Ren made a face at the sound of that. Not going to let that sink in with anyone, Nora quickly sprung at Seti again, bring down Magnhild again. Seti, this time, managed to catch her leg on the curve of Wadjet, and bring her down her back, bringing Nehkbet to her neck.

"I win," Seti said.

"Not exactly scales," Nora said with a smirk, gesturing down. Seti noticed that Magnhild's gun form was pressed against Seti's gut.

"Seems like its a draw," Glynda stated, glancing at her clipboard, "Impressive both of you." Seti got up off of Nora, offering a hand.

"You ain't half bad," Nora said, with a smirk, as the snake pulled her to her feet.

"I'd say you're all the way good," Seti answered, putting his weapons on his belts.

 **(in the cafeteria)**

Seti ran his hand through his dark hair, before gathering his tray. It was lunchtime, and he needed something to eat bad. Seti wasn't a picky eater; food was food, and as a Faunus, Seti had a strong digestive system. Sometimes when he was short on money, he would catch his own food. As a snake, that happened more often than some people might assume, since he would be lucky to get money for food. As he walked away to find a table, he used his tail to grab a water bottle.

"Hey, Seti!" he heard Ruby call, "Come sit with us!" Seti noticed RWBY and JNPR sitting together at one table.

"You sure?" Seti asked.

"Yeah!" Ruby said, before anyone else, "Why not?" Seti thought, before just shrugging and coming over and sitting down on JNPR's side.

"I've got to say," Ruby said, "you're pretty good. I think the way you can slither is pretty cool."

"You think that's cool?" Weiss said, "It looks just bizarre."

"How do you do that?" Pyrrha inquired, with a less discomfort and more curiosity.

"I'm honestly not that sure," Seti answered, "It just sort came as natural as walking. And I was taught that its completely natural for someone like me."

"Who taught you?" Jaune asked, "Your parents?"

"My parents died when I was young," Seti said plainly. An awkward silence fell over the table.

"Leave it to me to ruin a mood," Jaune grumbled.

"Eh, its fine," Seti responded, "If anything, I'm sorry for putting it like that. They died when I was nine, and I was raised by a friend of the family. He taught me a lot about being a snake Faunus."

"By the way, what's your Semblance?" Ren asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. Seti made a face, as his tail tightened.

"You don't want to know," he said.

"Ah, come on!" Nora said, "What's the worst it can be?"

"No, you _really_ don't want to know." That apparently got the point across, as nobody pursued the topic.

"So what are your guys' Semblances?" Seti asked. Only a couple of people explained their Semblances, though Seti had a good idea of their Semblances based on what he observed during the exams. During this, Seti quickly analyzed the people he hadn't yet, which consisted of Ren and Blake. Ren actually smelt of lotuses, while Blake smelt of ink with a hint of cat. One thing he took notice of, was the way Jaune looked away with what could best be described as shame.

Seti wasn't the only one who took notice that, as Ruby and Pyrrha also looked at Jaune with concern. Both girls made a mental note to talk with Jaune later about this.

Something that suddenly caught the group's attention was the sound of a cry. They looked over and saw Cardin and his team pulling on the ears of a rabbit Faunus student, and teasing her. Several faces tightened in disgust at the sight of this. Seti, however, was not particularly phased by it.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Yang asked Seti. Seti suddenly looked up, seeing a few people looking at him expectantly. The snake Faunus glared.

"Aren't you?" he asked bluntly. That statement certain got to everyone, as uncomfortable, somewhat embarrassed reactions resonated over the group. This especially got to Blake. Meanwhile, the girl had gotten away, leaving the cackling team unpunished.

"What she's getting is nothing" Seti said, "Much worse has been done to me many more times." Not bothering to gauge those reactions, Seti jumped off the table, and departed, leaving the group.

"Actually that's a good point," Pyrrha said, "Why didn't we do anything?"

"I… I don't know," Ruby said softly, "I just kind of assumed someone else would."

"Maybe we should actually take action when someone's being bullied, though," Pyrrha said.

"Seti didn't have to put it like that, though," Weiss said, "I mean, yeah, its wrong, but he still should've done something himself."

"Well, he did say that worse had been done to him, didn't he?" Jaune asked.

"They always say that."

 **Note: Something that I realized after re-watching the scene where Velvet's getting picked on; while the group vocalizes their disdain for something like that, none of them actually do anything about it. So I figured it would make sense for Seti to call people on it; bare in mind that they still don't know that Blake's a Faunus just yet.**

 **Please review.**


	6. Mammals and Reptiles

_**Mammals and Reptiles**_

"Master! Is it true? Have you found him?"

"Indeed. He has finally emerged from the shadows."

"So the traitor crawled out of his den? We should go end him."

"Come now, we don't do that to our own, no do we?"

"But Master…"

"The last thing we need is attention being drawn to us. Going after him will do exactly that."

"So we just let the traitor go free?"

"Of course not. But let's be patient; its what we do. We'll send _her_ out to go scout out the Academy. She's been whining about being hungry anyway."

 **(at Beacon)**

One major advantage to being a freelancer, meant that Seti actually got his own private room. It was relatively small, but it had all the necessary amenities, so the mamba couldn't complain. Lying back on his bed, Seti tossed a ball to himself, pondering what to do in his free time.

It had been some time since he arrived at Beacon, and things were, naturally, quite boring. He had heard of Jaune having an issue with that Cardin guy from before bullying him. In all bluntness, Seit didn't care. He had bullied far more, and far worse, and nobody ever really gave him much regard. As a snake, he had to stand for himself, because no one else would.

Seti finally got the activity he so desired when there was a knock on his door.

"Its open," he said, not getting up, still tossing the ball to himself. The door opened, revealing Ruby. The red-clad girl smiled.

"Hey Seti! What's up?" she asked.

"The ceiling," Seti said, tossing the ball who Ruby who just managed to catch it, "If anything, what's up with you?"

"Oh, well my team and I were considering going into town and were wondering if you wanted to join us?" Seti sat up in his bed.

"A snake out on the street? In public?" he asked, "You sure you want that?"

"Of course," Ruby said, smiling, "Why not?"

"You're going to get quite a few glares in your direction," Seti said, "I think Weiss will be among them. How'd you even persuade her to do this?"

"Well, I didn't, but Weiss is sort of under the impression that if she doesn't deal with it, Yang might throw red paint all over her clothes at any given time." Seti thought about, before boosting himself off the bed with his tail.

"Surprised Yang was willing to do that much," he said, before shrugging, "Eh, why not? Getting a little sun never hurt a guy, especially a reptilian like me."

"Great!" Ruby said, smiling, "I'll go tell the girls." Seti sighed slightly, running a hand through his hair.

"What've gotten myself into?" he muttered.

 **(in town)**

Seti had decided to hide his tail, by wrapping it around his body, like he often did. He trailed behind Team RWBY slightly, staring at the sky.

"The way you act, its like you've never seen the sky before," Yang said. Seti was tempted to make a snarky comment in response, but figured he was more mature than that.

"I just like watching the sky sometimes," he said, with a shrug, "Because it doesn't matter if your Faunus or human. The sky always seems to look the same."

"How poetic," Weiss said sarcastically.

"I like it," Ruby said, grinning at him.

"Is there anything you don't like?"

"I like liking things," Ruby said with a shrug. The group walked for a time, in no particular direction.

"Alright, I'll say it," Seti said, "Do we know where we're going?"

"We're going to see the preparations for the Vytal Festival," Weiss answered, scowling at Seti.

"And why is that?" Seti said. The white-haired girl scowled at him.

"I'll have you know, that I like seeing the preparations," Weiss said, "Its a symbol of unity, and people coming together."

"Isn't that redundant?" Blake said.

"Doesn't make it any less true," Weiss said, "Its a celebration of world culture! The sheer organization that's needed is astounding!"

"Way to make it sound tedious," Yang said.

"Don't under appreciate the importance of proper preparation," Weiss said, waving a finger at the blonde.

"Forgive me, but I'm not entirely psyched for the festival," Seti admitted.

"Why not?" Ruby asked, "What about the tournament and everything?"

"Oh, I won't be participating. Don't forget, I'm a free lancer, and only teams can participate."

"Oh, that's too bad," Ruby said.

The group walked for extended period of time, not really doing anything except watching. Eventually, the team and the free lancer made it to the docks, where new arrivals were just making it in.

"Look Ruby persuaded me to join you, so with that, will someone please care to tell me why we're spending our Saturday here at the docks?" Seti asked.

"Yeah, this place stinks!" Ruby whined, holding her nose.

"At least you don't taste it," the snake Faunus said, spitting slightly, "And I taste it every time I breath in."

"Students from other academies will be arriving," Weiss explained, "And as representatives of Beacon, we have to show the best of our school." She then glanced at Seti. Weiss _wanted_ to say something mean, but figured perhaps it was beneath her. Besides, Seti had a good feeling what she was thinking anyway.

"And more specifically, _I_ , Weiss Schnee, must show them this great kingdom."

"In other words, she wants to get a good look at the competition," Blake said.

"Why is this placed called a 'kingdom' anyway?" Seti muttered, "Its ruled by a council, not a king."

"Maybe because 'kingdom' sounds cooler?" Ruby suggested, before looking around, and noticing what looked like a crime scene, "What's going on there?" Everyone looked over, and noticed it was indeed a crime scene, with looked like a vandalized dust shop.

"What's going on here?" Ruby asked, after they came over to investigate.

"Robbery," the police officer said, "But there's nothing to see here, move along." He then headed back to his partner, as they talked about how only dust had been stolen.

"I'd bet my venom that this was White Fang," Seti said, flicking his tongue slightly.

"The White Fang," Weiss scoffed, "What a lowly group of thugs."

"For once we agree on something," Seti said.

"What's your guys' problem?" Blake said, glaring at the two.

"Do you really need to ask?" Weiss said, "They're a bunch of maniacs!"

"They're not maniacs, just misguided," Blake responded.

"'Misguided'?" Weiss said, "They want to kill all humans!" She then looked at Seti.

"But I don't get what your problem is with the White Fang," she said.

"Maybe when they stop prohibiting reptilians from joining, and then hypocritically call for equality, I'll get over it," Seti answered.

"Well maybe it was that Torchwick guy," Ruby suggested.

"Who?"

"Long story."

"Well, doesn't matter," Weiss said, "The White Fang is, in point of fact, a bunch of psychotic degenerates. All they do is lie and steal." Blake glare hardened, but didn't say anything.

"Well, let's not jump to any conclusions, here," Yang said.

"Hey! Stop that lying, stealing Faunus!" The group hurried back to the docks (well Team RWBY hurried, Seti just kind of sauntered after them). Once they got there, they noticed what looked like a monkey Faunus with blonde hair/fur running away from some seriously ticked off looking guards.

"This is like a badly written punchline," Seti muttered, folding his arms, and flicking his tongue.

"Thanks for the lift!" the Faunus called, waving a banana behind him.

"A banana?" Seti thought, "Could he be more stereotypical?"

"Says the guy who slithers on his belly," Yang said, glancing at the mamba. Seti just shrugged slightly. The monkey, now being chased by the police, ran past the group, and Seti tried to analyze him, but the guy moved to fast for him to pick anything up. As the monkey went past, he winked at Blake, who blushed ever so slightly. Watching him run away, still chased by the police, Yang came up to Weiss.

"There goes the competition," she said, "Still want to go get a look at it!" That apparently got Weiss' attention back on her original goal.

"Let's go after him!" she declared, as she and the rest of her team ran after him. Seti was disinclined to follow them, but figured he didn't have anything better to do anyway. With that, he hurried after them. However, when he caught up with them, he noticed that Weiss had crashed into another girl with orange hair, and a big green power.

"What happened here?" Seti asked, skidding to a halt, "Did you lose him?"

"What do you think?" Blake asked. With a cry, Weiss leapt off the girl, who smiled at her.

"Salutations!" the girl said smiling, but still lying flat on her back.

"Um… hi," Ruby eventually said.

"You going to get up or something?" Yang asked.

"Yes!" the girl said after a pause, only to wait a second before leaping to her feet. Everyone took a step back.

"My name is Penny! It is a pleasure to meet you!" the girl said very happily.

"I'm Ruby!"

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"You sure you're okay?" Yang asked, only to be elbowed by Blake, "I'm Yang."

"And I'm Seti."

"It is a pleasure to meet you!"

"Didn't you just say that?" Weiss asked. Penny paused.

"I did!" she said happily. Seti flicked his tongue at the girl. To his surprise, she didn't have any scent. Usually everyone had at least a little. Not to mention that this girl gave off no body heat whatsoever, which was just downright unnatural. Seti didn't know what was with the girl, but knew she wasn't normal.

"We should get going," Yang said, "That guy's obviously long gone."

"Take care friend," Ruby said, waving to Penny as the group took their leave. As they were walking, Seti decided to speak up.

"That girl was weird," he said, "Something about her makes my scales shiver."

"Well, we clearly lost the Faunus boy," Weiss said, "Let's go…." Suddenly, the group stopped in their tracks, as Penny seemed to materialize before everyone.

"What did you say?" she asked. Seti's tail tightened around his body. This girl really gave him the shivers.

"I… well…."

"You!" Penny said, going up to Ruby and getting in her face, "Am I really your friend?"

"Uh…," Ruby said. She looked over Penny's shoulder, and saw the rest of her team all making "no" gestures. Seti was trying to inch away as gradually as possible.

"Sure, why not?" Ruby finally said. Her team keeled over in exasperation. Seti sighed slightly.

"Sensational!" Penny cried out happily, "We can…." And she started listing out stereotypical things teen girls would do, that didn't mean crap to Seti.

"So what brings you to Vale?" Yang asked.

"I'm in the tournament," Penny answered, smiling.

"You're in the tournament?" Weiss asked, "No offense, but you're not entirely dressed for it."

"You're in a dress," Blake pointed.

"Its called a combat skirt," Weiss said.

"Tell it Weiss!" Ruby said, as the two fist bumped.

"Yeah, dress," Seti muttered, as he tried analyzing Penny again, but again found nothing. He stuck out his tongue, and rubbed it slightly. Was it working properly?

"Actually," Weiss said going up to Penny, "You wouldn't happen to know a monkey-tailed thug" Blake clenched her fists.

"Who?" Penny asked.

"A Faunus rapscallion!" Weiss said, "Do you know him?"

"Will you stop it!" Blake snapped.

"Stop what?" Weiss asked, looking at her teammate.

"Calling him those names," Blake said, "He's a person!"

"He committed a crime," Weiss said, "What should Faunus be exempt. If anything, he should be put in prison, he'll probably just join the White Fang!" Blake simmered with rage.

"Why are you letting her talk about your fellow Faunus like this?" she asked Seti. Seti looked straight at her in shock, as did the others. Penny cocked her head at this. It quickly dawned on Blake what she had said.

"Oh sure announce it to the whole wide world," Seti said, folding his arms.

"I'm… I'm sorry," Blake said, looking away, before looking back at him, "But still, why are you letting her talk like that?"

"Forgive me, but I don't exactly consider mammalian Faunus my kin," Seti said.

"What? Why?"

"Because I have my reasons. That's why." Blake averted her eyes again.

"And he's right," Weiss said, "A criminal is a criminal! And the White Fang are criminals!" That got Blake's attention back on Weiss.

"You spoiled little brat!" she snapped.

"I'm your teammate!" Weiss retorted, as she marched up to Blake, "You can't talk to me like that!" As the two quickly started to argue, the others just stared.

"We should go," Yang said.

"Where should we go?" Penny asked with a smile, as if oblivious to the situation.

 **(back at Beacon)**

Weiss and Blake's argument held up all the way back to the dorms, as Ruby and Yang tried their best not to get in the middle of it. Seti had opted to actually try and be supportive, but it found it hard, as the girls ripped into each other, so he stayed in the back, picking at loose scales, and trying to keep attention off him.

"I can't even fathom why you'd defend an organization that hates humanity!" Weiss snapped, "The White Fang is pure evil!"

"And why do you think they hate humanity so much!" Blake answered, "Its because of people like you that the White Fang does what it does!"

"People like me!"

"You're discriminatory!" That got Seti's attention, whose tail tightened again. He narrowed his eyes as his tongue flicked.

"I'm a victim!" Weiss said.

"You're a victim?"

"You want to know why I hate White Fang so much?" Weiss said, walking to the window, "Because they've been at war with my family since my grandfather's time, And when I say war, I don't mean conflict, I mean battles, bloodshed, death. And since childhood, I've had to watch my list of family members grow steadily shorter, as business rose and fall like the sun. And when my father came home, he took his anger out on the people around him, which included me." She then looked back at Blake.

"So you want to know why I hate White Fang so much? Because they're nothing but a bunch of murderous, lying _thugs_!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake snapped. Then she paused, as she realized what she just said. Everyone stared at her in shock at that.

"Why don't you shut up!" The group then looked at Seti, who was standing straight, his eyes slits, his fists clenched, and his fangs bared.

"Seti…," Ruby began.

"You humans always carry yourselves so high and mighty, as great guardians against the Grimm," Seti said, "And on top of that, mammalian Faunus always talk a big game about equality, and how terrible you have it! Well, let me teach you a simple fact: you have no idea how good you have it! You know where we reptilians have to live if we want to live safe in the city, instead of out in the wilds?"

"Well…," Ruby began.

"The sewers! The drains!" the snake shouted, "Why? Because we're not allowed to live in the city! We have to crawl through the pipes and mud if we want to be 'safe' in the strongholds and not take our chances with Grimm. And when we tried to go and take a stand for ourselves, to go get involved with the White Fang, you know what we find out? Reptiles aren't allowed in the White Fang! Because we'll always be the same thing to everyone: loathsome creeps that crawl on our bellies! So don't you go claiming how hard you've had it, when you don't even bother to learn about how things are for us!" A silence fell over the room, as everyone just stared at Seti, whose tail lashed around behind him.

"Seti…," Blake began.

"Save it," Seti said, before storming out, and slamming the door behind with his tail, leaving Team RWBY alone.

"Did… did you…," Weiss said.

"No," Blake answered, "I didn't know reptilians had it that bad."

"And, are you…" Blake looked away, before reaching up, and undoing her bow. This revealed a pair of cat ears.

"Oh Blake," Ruby said.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Yang asked.

"Because of people like you," Blake said, looking at Weiss, who stared at the ground. Blake then got up, and ran out the door.

"Seti!" she called, going to try and find him. Ruby quickly followed.

"Let's go," Yang said to Weiss, "We owe both of them this." Weiss was silent before nodding. With that, the two also ran out.

 **(at the docks)**

A small boat landed on the docks, as a woman jumped out,and looked up at the city, smiling slightly.

"Let's get this started," she said, her forked tongue flicking out.

 **Note: Seti's rant was a long time coming. I have this idea that reptilians would be treated exceptionally badly, even amongst Faunus, because of the whole "Reptiles are Abhorrent" trope, which I hate. Bare in mind, no one really knew about what it was like for reptilians, so while you can't blame for that, but that doesn't change what it was like.**

 **Next chapter, things will definitely began to heat up again.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	7. Trust in Me

_**Trust In Me**_

"Seti! Seti!" Ruby called, as she walked around, trying to find her reptilian acquaintance. After hearing his rant about reptilian Faunus and how they were treated, Ruby felt he seriously needed some friends to talk with.

Night had fallen over Beacon, and most people were probably relaxing in their dorms at this point, but Ruby wasn't going to let Seti wander around during the night like this. To help find him, Ruby had called Team JNPR to assist.

As the red-clad girl wandered around, looking, she didn't notice a figure slithering through the shadows, following her.

 **(with Seti)**

Seti glared at the night sky, as he walked through the Beacon courtyard. He had to blow off some steam after going out on Team RWBY. Maybe he'd been rather harsh, but it had to be said, because it was all true. Being a reptilian was not an easy life to live, being viewed as nothing more than a lowly snake, that crawled on its belly. And hearing Blake tear into Weiss about how bad mammalian Faunus had, despite being ignorant of the way things were for reptilians, been treated struck a nerve in him.

At the time, he was wandering across the Beacon Main Avenue, trying to blow off some steam. He stopped, as he lifted his tail into his hands and looked at it. In the shadows, his dark grey scales looked pitch black. He then ran his tongue over his fangs, tasting the venom that slid out of them. Seti had always been told that it was important to be proud in who you were, snake or not, but there were times when he did ask himself what life would've been like if he had been born human. Would he also be ignorant of the reptilian's plight?

" _The dragon rises."_ The words echoed through his mind; words he had always been taught, and the importance behind them. Sometimes, Seti thought about them, if it were true.

 **(with Weiss and Yang)**

"Where do you think he could be?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know," Yang said.

"Honestly, the company, at least as far as I know, never hired reptilians," Weiss said.

"I guess Blake would call that a kindness," Yang said. At the mention of her teammate, Weiss averted her eyes.

"I'm not a bigot or anything," she said, "I've really got no problem with regular Faunus."

"Well, what you say about White Fang may indicate otherwise for some people," Yang said.

"Just because their Faunus doesn't mean that what their doing is justified," Weiss insisted, "Doesn't mean the people they attack deserve what they did." Yang was starting to regret coming with Weiss. The blonde was certainly _not_ the person to talk to about this subject, but if Weiss did need someone to talk to, then she had to offer her help.

"Though I'll admit that I never knew reptilians lived like that," Weiss continued.

"Yeah," Yang said, "I didn't either. Now I understand why Seti often acts the way the does. He needs some support from his friends."

"Well in that case," Weiss said, stopping, "Maybe I should stop. Not sure if he'd even want to see me."

"Oh no," Yang said, pulling Weiss over by her ponytail, "You aren't getting off that easily."

"Really, pulling hair?" Weiss asked.

"You don't have anything else to pull so as to make a point."

 **(with Seti)**

"Seti!" The snake looked over his shoulder, to see Blake running up to him.

"Finally, I found you!" Blake said, as she stopped in front of him.

"You were looking for me?" Seti asked.

"Of course," Blake said, "The whole team is looking for you, as well as Team JNPR." Seti looked over Blake, and noticed that she wasn't wearing her bow.

"Not worried about people seeing your ears?" he asked.

"My team knows now," Blake said, "Besides, no one else is out at this point." Seti sighed, as he swished his tail behind him. He then kept walking down the avenue, as Blake followed him.

"You shouldn't be spending your time doing that," Seti said, "I need this time to me."

"Look," Blake said, "I'm sorry. I never knew reptilians had it like that."

"Honestly, most people don't," Seti said, "I guess I can't really single you out for it."

"Doesn't excuse my ignorance," Blake said, "I always prided myself as a tolerant, and informed, but appears I'm not. I don't know why the White Fang wouldn't allow reptilians to join though. I don't see a problem with it."

"Well, neither do I," Seti said, "Apparently some people do though. Loved to hear what their mindset is."

"The White Fang is supposed to be about equality, and if it can't leave up to its own standards, what does that say about the members?" Seti looked closely at Blake.

"The way you talk about White Fang," he said, "It sounds like you have some rather intricate experiences with them." Blake stopped, to which Seti also stopped.

"Wait, you weren't…."

"I joined when I was young," Blake said, "I wanted to take a stand for Faunus."

"You were in the White Fang?" Seti asked, looking at Blake in surprise. Considering how much she had to say about the group, it wasn't a leap to assume that Blake had some kind of history with the organization, but he didn't think she'd be a former member. The notion of insurgency seemed all round unlike her.

"There was a time where the White Fang really did believe in equality for Faunus, instead of what it does now," Blake said, "And it saddens me to realize that reptiles weren't apparently being allowed to be a part of it." Seti looked at her. He wasn't sure if he just realized it now, but Blake was really pretty, especially with her eyes out

"It wasn't your fault," he said, looking back at the ground, "I don't think you'd have any say in what happened." Blake looked at him, before looking back at the ground.

"I… I know that I can't make up for how things were for you back then," she said. Seti then looked down in surprise, Blake had put a hand over his.

"But I'm willing to work with you now, I'm willing to help you like the White Fang couldn't." Seti flushed red at the sound of that.

"Well…," he said, pulling at his tail slightly. What did a guy say after all that?

 **(with Ruby)**

"So no luck?" Ruby asked.

"' _Fraid not,"_ Jaune said by his scroll _, "Pyrrha's looking around now, and Nora said that she and Ren haven't found him either."_

"Well, keep your eyes open," Ruby said, "We can't leave him out here." Her attention was then taken by eh sound of rustling in the trees. She was in the Tower plaza, walking through the trees.

"I gotta go," she said, hanging up. As she did, she heard more rustling going through the trees.

"Who's there?" Ruby asked, putting a hand on Crescent Rose. At first she got no answer, until…

"Hi, little one," a voice suddenly called out from the darkness. Ruby tensed up quickly.

"Oh no, don't be scared, I mean you no harm," the voice called. It was the voice of a woman. It was smooth, and kind, but there was this strange tone Ruby couldn't identify hovering over the voice.

"What do you want?" Ruby asked, looking through the trees, and not seeing anyone.

"Are you alone out here?"

"No," Ruby answered, taking a step back, "I'm out with my friends. I'm looking for someone."

"I can help you find him. Would you like that?" Ruby looked up into another tree, and that was when she saw the woman, lounging in the branch.

From what Ruby could see, this woman seemed tall, noticeably taller than Yang, but was also slim, and elegant looking. She had short, neatly combed, blonde hair, that would've looked masculine on a different person, but this woman was downright beautiful. Her deep, green eyes were slitted, like that of Seti's. Her features were soft, but intense. But what Ruby really took notice of were the yellow scales with a brown pattern covering her arms. She was a reptilian Faunus, like Seti.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked, keeping her hand on her scythe. The woman flicked her tongue, as she maneuvered through the trees.

"Kaa," she answered softly. A shiver ran down Ruby's spine as she watched the woman slither the trees.

"Poor sweet little girl, don't you know its not safe out here," Kaa said, as she hung down by one leg down to Ruby's level.

"I need to find my friend," Ruby said, holding her ground.

"Would you like me to help you?" Kaa asked softly, as she leaned close to Ruby's face. Close enough that when she flicked her tongue, it tickled Ruby's nose. And that was when Ruby saw her eyes. Kaa's eyes began to ripple blue, gold, and green from her pupils, as her pupils became as black as an abyss. Suddenly, nothing else mattered in the world, as all of Ruby's focus went into those eyes.

"Yes…," Ruby said softly. Her eyes began to mimic the same rippling effect as those of Kaa.

"Now tell me, who is that you are looking for?" Kaa asked, rearing back up into the tree, as Ruby walked after her, looking up, still into her eyes.

"Seti Kemet," Ruby answered softly.

"Is that so?" Kaa asked, as she reached down and stroked Ruby's cheek, her eyes still rippling, "You're a good little girl, aren't you?" She nodded her head, causing Ruby to nod as well so as to follow her eyes.

"Good little girls shouldn't be out at this time," Kaa said, as she slithered through the branches, like the python she was, "Tell me girl, are you tired? Are you hungry?"

"…Yes…"

"Is that so?" Kaa said in a tone that was starting to get rather sinister, "I'm starved. Why don't you come with me?" She gestured for Ruby to follow her, which she did.

 **(with Seti)**

Blake and Seti were heading back to the dorms, when Seti suddenly stopped. He the flicked his tongue through the air, looking around.

"What is it?" Blake asked. Seti didn't answer, as he flicked his tongue through the air again. A horrified look fell over his face, a look Blake had never seen before. _She's here_ Seti thought.

"Contact the others!" he said, "We're in danger!"

"What are you talking about?"

"If who I think is here, then I don't have time to explain," Seti said, "But contact the others, and follow me."

"Alright!" Blake said, as she and Seti ran off, pulling out her scroll as she did.

 **(in the Beacon Ballroom)**

Kaa had lead Ruby into the ballroom. Kaa was on her knees, Ruby snuggling in her arms, like a child, as Kaa held her close. But closer look saw what the python Faunus was doing. The scaled arms were now showing their muscles.

"Shut your eyes," Kaa said, as she ran her hand through Ruby's hair, which Ruby did, as if falling asleep. Kaa then loomed over Ruby ominously.

"Just let go of your fear now," Kaa said, " _… and trust in me_." She then opened her mouth, as her jaw unhinged like a snake, and came down over the girl.

 **Note: Seems Ruby's in trouble now.**

 **Yes, I based the character of Kaa on the character from** _ **The Jungle Book**_ **, specifically the 2016 version (which if you haven't seen, you should). I also based Kaa's appearance on Scarlett Johansson, only with a python twist.**

 **Bare in mind, that while you may have noticed some ship tease for Blake and Seti, don't take that to mean anything as things stand. Nothing's set in stone there, and all sort of things could be subject to change.**

 **Please review. I got the follows and favs, but I would love some reviews too.**


	8. Mamba vs Python

_**Mamba vs Python**_

Kaa's gaping jaws came down over Ruby, who remained in the state of entranced sleep from the python's rippling eyes. And just as Kaa began to close them around the girl…

"HOLD IT KAA!" Kaa looked up, just in time to see Seti as he crashed into her, causing her grip to loosen, and Ruby to slip away.

"Ruby!" Yang cried, as she ran into the ballroom, the rest of RWBY, as well as JNPR coming in

"Is she okay?" Jaune asked, as Yang took a still unconscious Ruby in her arms.

"I don't know," Yang said.

Meanwhile, Seti and Kaa continued to grapple the ground. Eventually, the python pushed the mamba off, and leapt to her feet, which Seti did as well.

"Seti," Kaa said, giving a dark smile, "Its been a long time."

"What're you doing here?" Seti demanded, as he drew his weapons.

"Getting a meal, what does it look like I'm doing?" Kaa answered darkly.

"You're still eating people?!" Seti asked in disgust.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it, mamba," Kaa said, before looking at the still unconscious Ruby in Yang's arms, "Though that girl looks like she'd be rather gamy." Upon hearing that, Yang began to shake in rage, as she rose to her feet. No one tried to eat her sister.

"Hold back," Blake said, grabbing her shoulder, "Let Seti handle this for now. Just focus on Ruby."

"Get out of here, Kaa!" Seti snapped, "Leave this people alone."

"Oh no, I can't do that," Kaa said, lashing her tongue, and reaching behind her, and pulling out dual chakram with snake symbols carved into them. Seti scowled at them.

"Recognize these?" Kaa sneered.

"Ajagar Kee Pakad," Seti said, "Those aren't weapons you forget." **(Hindi. "Python's Grip")**

"Is that so?" Kaa said, "Let's try and remember why." With that, she threw both of them at Seti, who managed to dodge them, who sprung at Kaa, only for the chakrams to suddenly come back at the mamba. Seti managed to lean out of the way, but one of them caught his cheek. Seti hissed, touching a small cut.

"Doesn't make any sense throwing away your weapon if you can't get it back," Kaa said, spinning the chakram on small, barely noticeable threads. With a yell, Seti swung his swords at Kaa, who easily blocked with one her chakram. She then bought the other up, and slashed at Seti, who blocked with Wadjet. He then clicked Nekhbet into its gun form, and fired, which Kaa easily leaned out of the way of.

"I remember now why you can't forget this weapon," Kaa said, looping Ajagar Kee Pakad around her fingers, "Because you never could beat me. How many times did we fight again?" Instead of answering, Seti slithered at her, and struck up with Wadjet. Kaa shifted out of the way, and slashed with one of the chakram, which Seti blocked with Nekhbet. Slashing up with the other sword, Kaa ducked out of the way, and grabbed Seti's wrist, and squeezed. The mamba let out a gasp of pain. He'd forgotten how strong this python was. Not intent on letting her hold onto him, Seti turned Nekhbet back into its gun form, and pointed it at Kaa's face. The python just smirked.

"You won't pull the trigger," she said, "Not after all we've gone through." Seti hissed, as he cocked the gun, and pushed it into Kaa's forehead.

"Don't kid yourself, mamba." With a yell, Seti's tail lashed out, and struck Kaa in the face. This distracted her just enough for him to slip out of her grasp, and kick her in the side of the face. Seti then quickly slithered away, and around a column. Kaa quickly slithered after him. As the two serpents slithered through the rafters, the teams watched them.

"Its like watching two snakes fight," Blake said.

"I think that's exactly what we're watching," Weiss commented.

Meanwhile, as Seti tried to slither through the rafters, his tail was caught by Kaa, who yanked him down. Seti fell to the ground, and Kaa dropped down. With a yell, Seti got up, and brought his sword up at the python. Kaa just smirked, and held up one of the chakram, as Seti's arm got caught in the middle, and pulling, causing Seti to lose his footing. The python then suddenly wrapped an arm around Seti's neck and pulled him close, before wrapping another arm around his torso.

"You envenomators are such whimps," Kaa sneered, as she constricted him, her scaled arms flaring their muscles again. Seti tried to hold his breath, since trying to breath in just let Kaa tighten her grip.

"You're in the way, and I'm sure he won't mind me removing you," Kaa said darkly, as she squeezed harder. Seti, unable to breath, could only croak. Then, out of nowhere, Kaa was socked in the face by Yang's fist.

"That's for trying to eat my little sister!" Yang snapped.

"You okay," Blake asked, as she helped Seti back up

"(pant) I (pant) think so," Seti gasped, coughing slightly, before looking back up. He noticed that Jaune was now holding onto Ruby, who was still out of it.

"What for?" Yang said. But she still started looking at Kaa's feet. Chances are Seti knew more about this python than she did.

"Kaa's Semblance is Hypnosis," Seti explained, "Once you look directly into her eyes, you belong to her."

"Then we won't look into her eyes," Pyrrha said, as she advanced, looking at Kaa's reflection in her shield. The rest of the teams, save for Ruby and Jaune of course, also advanced on Kaa, trying to avoid looking into her eyes.

"Just slither away, Kaa," Seti said, "You're rather severely outnumbered." Kaa flicked her tongue, as she scanned her list of enemies.

"Maybe, but who needs enemies when you've got friends?" she asked. She then threw half of Ajagar Kee Pakad. Not at any of the people before her. Instead, she through it Jaune, who held up his shield to block it. However, he instinctively looked at Kaa, and found himself caught in her rippling gaze.

"No need to be afraid boy," Kaa whispered, " _Trust in me_." Jaune's eyes suddenly mimicked the rippling sensation. Ruby's eyes then shot open as well. In a flash, the two were standing before the group, their weapons drawn.

"Ruby!" Yang cried.

"Those two belong to Kaa now," Seti said, as he leaned on Blake. Felt like the python may have broken a rib.

"Well what do we…," Weiss began, only for Ruby to suddenly launch at her, giving the white haired girl barely enough time to block with her sword. At the same time, Jaune jumped at Pyrrha, who managed to block as well. Kaa let out a hissing laugh.

"No one eats my little sister!" Yang screamed, as she leapt at Kaa, and punched. Kaa managed to parry a bunch of the punches, but one of them got through, and struck her in the gut, sending Kaa flying away, and crushing through a column. The python bared her fangs at Yang, and lashed her tongue.

"I'm going to enjoy eating you," Kaa hissed. She would've just hypnotized Yang, but she could sense the intense Aura surrounding her. That was another weakness to her Semblance, a powerful active Aura could block it.

"I always wanted a snake skin purse," Yang growled. With that, the two launched at each other again, trading blow after blow. Kaa swung Ajagar Kee Pakad at the blonde's throat, but Yang easily parried all the attacks with Ember Cecilia. Yang then tried to punch Kaa in the face, only for the python to evade the attack without much issue, and grab Yang but the wrist, and started to squeeze. Yang let out a grunt of pain, and tried to bring up her other fist, only for Kaa to catch it as well.

"Fighting me close quarters is _never_ a good idea," Kaa hissed, "I'm a constrictor, I'm even stronger than most Faunus." The older female then pushed down on Yang, forcing her to one knee. Kaa's tongue then lashed out.

"Delicious," she said, before unhinging her jaw, and bringing it towards Yang. However, she rather quickly got a mouthful of Yang's forehead when the teen instead decided to hit her straight in the jaw. Recoiling back, and losing her grip, Kaa picked out a couple of fangs.

"Damn," she hissed, "I've got better things to deal with than these kids." With that, she fell to her belly, and slithered away.

"Get back here you slithering bitch!" Yang snapped, running after the python.

During all of this, Ruby was going at Weiss and Nora while Jaune was going at Pyrrha and Ren. Blake was still supporting Seti. Fortunately, either Kaa's hypnosis lessened their ability, or they weren't trying hard as they normally did, because no one was having any real trouble. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like they were slowing down.

"How can we fix them?" Nora asked, as she blocked a slash from Ruby.

"Can we fix them?" Ren said, as he avoided Jaune's own slash. With a grunt, Seti stood up straighter, holding onto his side.

"Fortunately, yes, but its not a good fix," Seti said.

"Just tell us!" Pyrrha demanded, "If we don't do something, they'll hurt us, or worse, we'll hurt them." Seti cringed. He knew a way to break them out it, but it was rather…. old fashion.

"You have to konk them on the head. Really hard." That caused several people to glance at him in surprise.

"I'm not making that up," Seti said, "Sometimes you've got to reset their brain."

"Of course it is," Weiss said with a sigh. Ruby then pounced on her again, as Weiss just had time to block. At the same time, Jaune went at Pyrrha again.

"I'm so sorry!" Pyrrha moaned, before bringing her shield down on Jaune's head. The blonde fell like a bag of cement, unconscious. Shortly after that, she slammed the hilt of Myrtenaster down on Ruby's head, causing her to fall down as well.

"That's was actually somewhat therapeutic," Weiss admitted, shaking her sword hand slightly. Yang came back into the building, panting.

"I lost her," she said, before noticing Ruby on the ground, "Ruby!" She hurried over to her.

"She's alright, but she'll probably have a headache in the morning," Weiss said, "So maybe she'll understand how it feels to be her roommate."

"Neither of them got exposed to enough of Kaa's Semblance for it to last long, so it will completely get out of them in a day or so. Just don't say the words 'trust' and 'in' and 'me', in that order in the mean time," Seti explained, "Those are Kaa's trigger words."

"Damn her!" Yang said, "Trying to eat Ruby." Hearing that, Weiss shot a glare at Seti.

"You forgot to mention that reptilians _eat_ people," she said. Seti moved away from Blake slightly, as he looked away.

"Its… been done before," he admitted, before quickly saying, "Though I've never done it myself!"

"No one's accusing you," Blake said, before looking at her downed friends, "Let's take them to the infirmary. You too."

"Alright," Seti answered, not in the mood to protest. But he couldn't help but feel nervous, as Blake helped him away. _If Kaa's here, does that mean_ he's _here as well?_ he thought _No, it couldn't be. Why would he want to come here?_

 **Note: I don't know how many people would be able to guess who the "he" in question is. But chances are its nothing good. I hoped you enjoyed the fight; there's a lot coming after that.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	9. Pursued by the Past

_**Pursued by the Past**_

The group managed to get the unconscious Ruby and Jaune to the infirmary, where they were being taken care of. Seti was also treated, albeit quicker, for the injuries Kaa gave him. While the two humans lay unconscious, with Yang at her sister's bedside.

"Alright," Weiss said, "Its high time we all got an explanation." All eyes were immediately on Seti.

"I guess I do have some explaining to do," Seti admitted.

"You think?" Yang responded, "Start by telling us who that woman as. She seemed to know you."

"Her name is Kaa Peela, and as you probably guessed, she's a python Faunus," Seti explained.

"Okay, then how the heck does she know you?" Weiss asked.

"Its a… long story," Seti said.

"Well then you better start explaining it." Seti looked at the group standing before, looking at him expectantly. He didn't know how to put his past, especially at this point. True, Kaa and Seti had history, as he did with other people, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell them. It could potentially jeopardize a growing friendship he had with these people; normally he wanted nothing to do with mammals, but over the past few weeks these mammals in question had been slowly but surely earning his affection.

"Let's just say that the two of us used to work with each other,"Seti explained.

"Not good enough," Weiss said, "In what way did you 'work together'?"

"We used to be activists." Not really a lie, but not really the truth either.

"I thought you said reptilians weren't allowed in the White Fang?" Yang said.

"They aren't, but that doesn't mean reptilians haven't tried taking a stand for our brethren," Seti responded, "Kaa and I were among such reptilians."

"So you two were terrorists?" Weiss said.

"Your terrorist, our freedom fighters," Seti said, "Didn't the conversation with Blake teach you that already?" Weiss scowled.

"Freedom fighters don't try and eat people," she said. Seti flicked his tongue, his tail swishing behind him.

"Kaa and I did work together," he explained, "Reptilians like us have to if we want to survive in this world. The drains aren't a kind place to live in."

"Is there anyone else we need to know about?" Pyrrha asked from Jaune's bedside. Seti pondered that question for a time.

"Probably not," he finally said.

"That's not an encouraging answer," Weiss said, "If there are more of these snakes lurking in the shadows, we need to know. Especially if they get hungry again."

"Kaa's the only one that actually ate people."

"That's not encouraging either!" Seti clenched his teeth.

"Look!" he said, "I don't know why Kaa was here, and I don't know who else is here!" The humans and the Faunus looked at him. Seti sighed.

"I'm going to go. I don't think my presence is good for the atmosphere." Not waiting for a protest, the mamba took his leave.

"You shouldn't blame him," Blake said to Weiss.

"And I don't," Weiss answered, "But there's a lot he isn't telling us. He can't expect us to trust him all things considered."

"There are some thing that are generally best left unsaid," Ren said, "Perhaps his past is something he's ashamed of."

"So he doesn't trust us?" Nora asked.

"In all fairness, does he have a reason?" Blake asked, "It took me some time before I could really trust humans again after all that's been done."

"And he has had it worse," Yang said.

"If Seti wants to explain his past, we should let him do it on his own," Blake said, "Forcing it out will probably damage our friendship." Weiss listened to that and sighed.

"Alright," she relented, "But at this point, its not our responsibility for him trusting us."

 **(outside)**

Seti kicked a rock a couple of times, mulling over what just happened. The sun was starting to peak over the horizon, casting ominous shadows over the area.

It had been two years since he saw Kaa, or anyone else from his past for that matter. And now she'd come back, and he wondered if the others had come back. He wondered if _he_ had come back. The thought made Seti shiver. _He_ was a dangerous individual, and if he was moving into Vale….

Seti looked at his hand, and clenched his fist. He had to find out. With that, he dropped to his belly, and slithered away.

 **(in Vale)**

"Damn. You really did it, eh Kaa?"

"Yeah I did, sue me."

"People always have said snakes would make great lawyers."

In an abandoned warehouse, were three reptilian Faunus. There was Kaa, but there was also another young woman, and a young man. The woman had long, bright green hair, and yellow eyes. In place of eyebrows, were keeled, green scales, which also covered her cheek bones. She had a long tail, also covered in the same green scales. She was a green viper Faunus.

The young man had light brown hair, and had light brown eyes. His face and patches of copper colored scales, and he had a long tail with patterned copper scales. He was a copperhead Faunus. Both of them had the standard forked tongue of snake Faunus. They were also both of average height, at least compared to Kaa, who was easily the tallest present

"So you let some kids rob you of a meal?" the girl asked, "You're losing your touch."

"It was Seti's fault," Kaa said, "If he hadn't shown up…."

"He did, deal with it," the man said. Kaa scowled.

"Screw you, Roland. You too Eve."

"You know you love us," Eve said, with a wink. Kaa bared her fangs at her.

"What are we doing here, anyway?" she later asked, "Why isn't our leader here?"

"He said he had other affairs, and would arrive later," Eve said.

"Of course he does," Kaa said with a sigh, "Did he tell either of you why he brough us here in the first place?"

"Can't say he did," Roland answered, "Though I do have to wonder why you decided to go slither off like that in the first place. Couldn't you wait for something easier to kill?"

"But humans are so easy to hypnotize," Kaa said, "And seriously, don't knock it to you try it. Humans taste delicious."

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Eve answered.

"Oh yeah, I remembered that you envenomators are completely whimps."

"Sorry we can't all be mindless brutes like the constrictors." Kaa suddenly rose to her feet, baring her fangs, as her muscles flared in her arms. Eve also rose to her feet, baring her fangs as well, small droplets of venom coming from them.

"Break it up girls," Roland said, getting in between them, "We're all the same side, remember?"

"How accurate," a new voice called. All three snakes turned, and saw a new, very tall figure, standing in the shadows. He had glowing red eyes.

"Welcome back, Sir," Roland said.

"I'm sure," the figure said, as he walked past. He was even taller than Kaa.

"You know Kaa, I really don't care about your diet," the figure said, "But you know I can't approve of you revealing yourself to the mammals."

"But Sir…"

"Don't want to hear it. You showed yourself to Seti, who knows what he'll tell the mammals. You know what that means?" Eve and Roland both took a step back, as Kaa remained still.

"I don't take issue with punishing you, but I rather not. But… _you would much rather punish yourself_." A single red ring suddenly rippled over Kaa's eyes. She then took her throat in her hands, and squeezed.

"Sir…," Eve began, only for the figure to hold up a hand, causing the viper to take a step back. For a time, they all just watched as Kaa strangled herself.

"Have I made myself clear, Kaa?" The python could only nod, as she croaked.

"Then you've been punished enough." With that, Kaa let herself go, as she fell to her knees, gasping for air.

"Seti's going to be coming to find us," the figure said, "Things are only going to escalate from there."

"What are we going to do, Sir?" Roland asked.

"Let him come. This could prove interesting."

 **Note: "Peela" is Hindi for "yellow".**

 **Seems more people from Seti's past are showing up. This can only lead to good things, right? And who is the figure lurking the shadows, and what can he do? We'll see soon enough.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	10. Snakes in the Shadow

_**Snakes in the Shadow**_

Ruby's head was still spinning, as she slowly regained consciousness. The girl groaned, as she rubbed her head, and slowly sat up.

"Ruby!" Yang said happily, as she hugged her sister, "You're alright!" The red-clad girl looked around, and noticed Jaune in the other bed, with Pyrrha asleep beside it.

"What happened?" Ruby asked, "The last thing I remembered was this python Faunus in the trees."

"In a nutshell, you almost got eaten, though we all saved you."

"Where're the others?" Ruby asked.

"Weiss went to the can, Blake, I think, is getting some water, and Ren and Nora are in a closet together," Yang said. Noticing Ruby's expression, she gave an embarrassed smile.

"They're over there," Yang said, pointing to the two sleeping on the couch, Nora's head in Ren's lap, "Trying to perk you up with a joke, bad timing?" Ruby looked around, and noticed that the group was missing someone.

"What about Seti?"

"He left some time ago," Yang answered, "He didn't say what he was going to do, but it sounded like he wanted to be alone, so we're giving him his privacy." Ruby slowly pulled herself out of bed.

"Take it easy, little sis," Yang said, putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Don't forgot, you were almost someone's midnight snack."

"Do you know who that Faunus was?" Ruby asked. She felt like she'd heard the python's name, but couldn't remember it.

"According to Seti, her name was Kaa Peela," Yang answered, "From the sounds of it, the two of them have a history."

"What kind of history?"

"Dunno. Guy didn't say much about it." Ruby frowned at the that. This was getting weird. This python Faunus shows up, Seti turns out to have a connection to her, and now the mamba was gone? What was Ruby supposed take from this?

 **(in Vale)**

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, starting to cast eerie shadows. Seti glided through the deserted streets of Vale like one of those shadow. He couldn't waste any time at all. If Kaa was here, than chances are the others are as well, and he had to find them.

Slithering up onto the roof, he lashed his tongue through the air. There were lots of scents in this area, making it hard to discern them. But eventually a few very distinct scents began to creep them in: the smell of snakes.

"There you are," he muttered, before slithering away back into the darkness.

 **(at Beacon)**

Blake paced anxiously, lost in thought (the water excuse was exactly that). What was Seti not telling them? Speaking from experience, Blake knew that being an insurgent was not something to be proud of. But it was also not like she didn't understand the mindset. Mammalian Faunus had it bad enough that they had to resort to such tactics, and if reptilians were really treated even worse, then what did they have to do in order to eek out a living?

Admittedly, Blake didn't not know as much as she perhaps should've about reptilians. She'd always assumed that the reason they weren't in White Fang was because they always remained in hiding. All she knew about them was that they were secretive, and rarely, if ever, interacted with the outside world. But beyond that, she had no idea what their society or culture was like. Blake wondered how they were connected to the Revolution (she didn't doubt they were), because if what Seti was saying was true, then after the Revolution, whereas things did improve for the mammals in some way, things didn't for the reptiles. Blake looked at her hand.

"Was I fighting for a group that didn't truly believe in its cause?" she muttered to herself. There were somethings that Blake regretted about her years in White Fang, and some that admittedly she didn't. But that was in the past, and she knew she had to look into the future. And she always had, and always would believe in a future where everyone was equal, and that included reptilians. Blake then clenched her hand into a fist.

"I promise, Seti," she said, looking up into the stars, "I will help reptilian Faunus just as much as I helped mammalian Faunus. That is my new goal!" And the first stage of that goal, finding Seti, and she'd need some help to do that.

 **(at Beacon)**

"You know its not that easy, right?" Weiss said, "We can't just go into the city, and start feeling around for Seti. He could be anywhere by now."

"So we need to start looking for him now," Blake said.

"Ruby's…," Yang began.

"Ruby is fine," the younger sister said, as she finally pulled herself out of bed, "And Blake is right, we have to find him." Weiss didn't protest, but she glared at the floor.

"What's your problem?" Blake said, frowning at her.

"He knew that he had dangerous friends. Friends that could kill and _eat_ some of us," Weiss said, "And he didn't tell us anything about them."

"Are you saying you don't trust him?" Ruby said, "He's been nothing but nice to us!" Weiss scowled at her.

"Let me rephrase that, he hasn't been _mean_ to us," Ruby said, "But he's still our friend. Come on Yang, back me up!" She looked at her sister, who she noticed was twisting uncomfortably in place.

"Yang?"

"Well…," Yang said, "One of those friends did sorta kinda… try to eat you."

"Come on!" Ruby said, "He saved me didn't he?"

"That's true," Yang admitted.

"Then you owe him," Ruby said, poking Yang in the chest, "Because if not for Seti, I'd be being digested right now, or worse!" Yang knew Ruby was right, so she nodded in agreement.

"Friends still don't keep dangerous information like that to themselves," Weiss said.

"Do you ever wonder why he kept that information to himself?" Blake said.

"Well…"

"The same reason I didn't tell you about who I was," Blake answered, "Because he was afraid of what we would think. I'm not sure if he really trusts us, anymore than you trust him." Weiss thought about that. It did make some sense. But was it enough?

"Alright," she said, deciding it was, "I'll help. But I'll expect some thorough answers out of him when we're done."

"I'm sure he'll want to give them, after this," Blake said, "And I think I have a good idea as to where he is." And with that, Team RWBY struck out to find the freelancer.

 **(with Seti)**

Seti slid through the gloom like a shadow, and just as fluidly. He couldn't waste anytime, because if _he_ was really here, then it meant that something big was probably going to down soon, since _he_ rarely left his hole. Seti followed the trail down to the docks, skidding to a halt. Unfortunately, reptilians didn't give off much in the way of body heat, so Seti's heat sensors weren't useful in a situation like this. Normally his tongue would be enough, but now that he was in the docks, other smells began to seep in, making it harder to identify certain ones. But as things would be, he didn't need to.

"Well, couldn't stay away, could you?" Seti whirled around, to see Kaa sitting on one of the many crates. But before Seti could put his hands on his swords, a new voice popped up.

"You just disappear, and what now? You come crawling back?" Roland emerged from the shadows, his copper scales glistening in the moonlight.

"I'm not coming back," Seti said, "I'm just here to find out what's going on?"

"Like you have to ask?" Eve said as she hung down from a crate, holding on with her tail. Seti then pulled out both Wadjet and Nekhbet, and held them up to the other snakes.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"What do you care?" Kaa asked.

"You abandoned us, after all," Eve said, cocking her head.

"Ever wonder why?" Seti said.

"Not particularly," Roland said, "All that matters is that you betrayed your own kind. And now look at you, living with mammals. You think by spending enough time with them, they'll start liking you?"

"Its my business who I spend time with," Seti said, as he tried to stay aware. It was hard with three Faunus overlooking him from all sides.

"You planning on fighting us?" Kaa asked as she jumped down to the ground level.

"I'd rather you just tell me what you're all doing here," Seti said, before adding sarcastically, "I'm sure we can all find a nice big sun lamp we can all share."

"What? You afraid to fight us?" Kaa asked, lashing her tongue. Her scaled arms began to show their muscles as she drew Ajagar Kee Pakad.

"I do have better things to do than deal with a group of worms who give snakes a bad name," Seti sneered. Probably a mistake in hindsight, but these three were starting to progressively piss him off. They hadn't changed at all, unable to think of anything beyond what _he_ told them.

"Big talk from one guy," Eve said as she dropped to the ground, cracking her neck. She then reached behind her back, and that was when Seti noticed a quiver of arrows on her back. Eve then pulled out a thin pole, which opened up into a bow shaped like a snake. It was Eve's personal weapon, Eden Flower, and her arrows, the Thorns.

At the same time, Roland pulled out a pole that opened up into a lance; an armband than opened into shield. It was his own weapon, Blood Sand.

"You know you have no hope beating all of us," Kaa said, You couldn't even beat me on my own." Seti's tail tightened. He knew Kaa was right.

"Ooo, this is going to be fun," Eve said, smiling sadistically, baring her venom-soaked fangs, before notching a Thorn, which was tipped with an arrow-shaped blade instead of an actual arrowhead.

"Don't get too gun-ho, Eve," Roland said. Seti probably should've stayed quiet, but he was too angry to do so.

"You never could actually fight, just snipe at people," he sneered. Eve's eyes turned to slits, and before Kaa or Roland could say anything, she loosed her Thorn. It came at Seti, but as he held up his swords to block it, there was a loud "pop", and the arrow was deflected. Seti looked up to see Ruby dropping to the ground, Crescent Rose returning to its scythe mode.

"We've got your back, Seti," Ruby said, smiling.

"There you are!" Yang said, as she ran down to the docks, with the rest of her team, much to Seti's surprise.

"How…"

"It wasn't a leap to figure you'd go out looking for an old enemy," Blake said, "And the docks are always the place where lowlives lurk."

"So you really did throw your lot in with the mammals?" Roland said, "Leaving the revolution is one thing, but siding with the oppressors?"

"You really are a traitor," Eve said, as she notched another arrow, "A traitor to all reptilians." Roland pointed his lance, and Kaa readied her chakram. Seti slithered back to Team RWBY's line.

"I take back what I said," Eve said, "This isn't going to be fun. This is going to be damn cathartic."

"Relax, my friends," an oily voice said. The three snakes turned to the sound of the voice, and while Team RWBY kept their battle stances, the voice gave Seti a chill that traveled all the way down to the tip of his tail, as a figure emerged from the shadows.

"Apophis."

 **Note: Seems an old face has shown up in the battlefield. We can only wonder how this will go.**

 **Initially this chapter was supposed to be longer, but I figured upcoming events deserved a chapter of their own. To that end, I opted to cut the chapter where it is. I think you can guess what sort of things will happen next chapter.**

 **Please review.**


	11. Battle of the Serpents

_**Battle of the Serpents**_

The tallest person Team RWBY knew was Yatsuhashi from Team CFVY and this guy looked a good foot taller than he was; though he wasn't particularly muscular, having a thin, almost gangly visage. His reptilian eyes were a piercing red, and almost seemed to glow in the night. From what they could see, he was also completely hairless; and not just bald, no eyebrows, or even eyelashes. Covering his head were red snake tattoos, save for a thin streak of red scales down the middle. His skin was pale, save for the occasional patches of red scales. He wore a black trench coat, with no shirt, showing a rearing red snake tattoo on his chest, and black pants. A long, red-scaled tail lashed out behind him. The sight of this man made even Yang shift on her feet.

"Been a long time, Seti."

"Not long enough." Apophis just grinned at the jab, showing a pair of fangs that looked longer than that of any other snake Faunus.

"You know this guy?" Ruby asked.

"I'll explain when we're done," Seti answered, "Just keep a safe distance from him."

"Oh, that's not going to be up to you," Apophis said, "Now, would you like to talk this out, like civilized folk, or…."

"I'll take the 'or'!" Seti said, before bringing at Apophis, bringing down both of his swords. Apophis effortlessly dodged.

"Smooth," Apophis said, "You've definitely gotten better. But, sadly better isn't satisfactory in this world." He then kicked Seti away.

"Seti!" Blake cried, as she drew Gambol Shroud, and went to help Seti. However, she had to avoid an arrow from Eve.

"Oh know you don't," Eve said, before yanking at a cord that was attached to the arrow, and pulled it back to her, "I won't let you get in Apophis' way." She then fired another arrow, which pierced Blake, only for it to be one of her doubles. Eve then notice that Blake had leaped over, and brought down her sword in its katana mode. Eve managed to block the attack with with Eden Flower, and pushed her off.

"You're a Faunus," Eve noted, after lashing her tongue. She then spun the bow through her hands, turning it into a battle stave.

"What about it?" Blake asked, as she got ready to fight.

"Nothing really, you're a mammal, that's all I need to know," Eve said, as she pulled out one of her bladed Thorns, and charged Blake. Blake blocked an attack from Eden Flower, but one of the Thorns came up, and she had to lean out of the way or get her head cut off. As Blake flipped back, Eve notched another Thorn, and fired. It hit Blake, but it turned out it was another shadow. The real Blake jumped from behind a crate, and turned Gambol Shroud into its gun form, and fired. This time Eve had to dodge, and when Blake came back up with Gambol Shroud back in its sword mode, Eve was pushed back, but she only grinned.

"What're you smiling about?" Blake queried. Eve didn't answer, as her aura (which was a bright green) suddenly glowed, and she held out her hand. What could only be described as glowing green fruit appeared in it, and the viper promptly ate it.

"Memorized," Eve sneered cracking her neck. Not waiting for her to make the first move, Blake sprung at her, and Eve fired another Thorn, which pierced a shadow clone. But when Blake came at Eve again, the viper easily blocked it. That didn't surprise Blake, but what did surprise her, was when she tried to jump back, she was grabbed by the ankle with Eve's tail, and slammed into the ground.

"How…," Blake began.

"My Semblance," Eve answered, "I call it, 'Fruit of Knowledge'. With this, I can learn everything about your fighting style. I can now counter anything you throw at me." That was a serious problem, and Blake knew it. She also knew she couldn't let this stop her, so the cat charged back to battle the viper.

Weiss, figuring she had to fight someone, opted to go against Roland, only because that lance and shield looked heavy, and she was confident she could outpace him. So with that in mind, using a glyph to boost her, Weiss sprung at the copperhead, who held his shield, which got a a full on strike from Myrtenaster. Roland then thrust out Blood Sand's lance piece, though he missed Weiss, who clicked Myrtenaster into its Ice mode, and shot a stream of ice at Roland, who blocked it again.

"Want to play that way, fine by me," Roland said. He then slammed the shield into the ground, as two rods came out of the top. He then placed the lance on it, as the tip open up, revealing eight gun barrels. A crank then appeared at the end of the lance handle. It was a gatling gun. Roland didn't waste any time, and opened up on Weiss, cranking away. The white-clad girl scrambled away to avoid the bullets, as she took cover behind another crate.

"Damn," she muttered, as she shifted to Fire. Then, using a glyph, she propelled herself into the air, and took a shot at Roland, who took shelter behind the shield/stand. That confirmed Weiss' assumption that when his weapon was in gun-mode, it was immobile. And although she hesitated to call that an advantage if she couldn't get close, the heiress still leapt forward, hoping to close the distance. But Roland managed to shift Blood Sand back into lance mode, and blocked the attack.

"You're a Schnee, aren't you?" he asked.

"What's it to you?" Weiss responded, shifting to Gravity.

"Just that mammals always bemoan how terrible you are to them," Roland answered, "Are you?"

"I'm offended by the question!" Weiss answered.

"I insulted you?" Roland asked, "That's great!"

"How mature," Weiss sneered, before jumping at him with a gravity charged attack. While Roland managed to block it, it still pushed him away, but when Weiss pressed the attack, she had to dodge a thrust from the lance. While she did that, she noticed a slightly unnatural shine on the tip.

"Wait, is that…" The girl just managed to avoid another thrust.

"My venom," Roland said, baring his fangs, which were dripping, "Eve and I coat our weapons in our venom. Much more efficient." Weiss briefly wondered if Seti did the same, but wasn't given enough time to really do it, as she was attacked again and had to dodge.

Meanwhile, Kaa found herself under attack by a vengeful little sister and an equally vengeful older sister. Turns out trying to eat the little sister was liable to get both parties rather livid. So Kaa was now forced to deal with attacks from both Yang and Ruby, which was not going well, and she couldn't focus enough to activate her hypnosis. With a cringe, she blocked a strike from Crescent Rose with one of the circular blades, only to have to deflect a strike from Ember Celica. As Kaa came with an upward slash, which Ruby avoided, and when Yang came to attack as well, her fist was caught by Kaa, who managed to throw Yang away, but Ruby quickly came back up, but when she brought down the blade, the tip got hooked in one of the rings, which allowed Kaa to knock the red-head off foot, and got grabbed by Kaa. But before Kaa could activate her semblance, got interrupted by Yang.

Kaa grunted, as she managed to block an attack from her, only to just managed to avoid a slash from Ruby. She fell back, as she felt a nick on her cheek. She then took both chakram but the string, and started swing them around, creating a large area where Ruby and Yang couldn't get close to without getting sliced. And true to form, Kaa couldn't resist sending a taunt.

"What's the matter? Too scared to try?" she sneered. But Ruby wasn't going to give up that easily. She activated her semblance, and slithered just through a gap in the chakram. Kaa would've gotten a face full of scythe if not for holding up her arms. Ruby instead cut into her scales, which while not a serious wound, it still hurt. That caused Kaa to lose her momentum swinging her weapons, which in turn, gave Yang an opportunity to slam her fist into the python's gut.

The python was sent careening away, and crashed into a crate, leaving an imprint on it. That didn't go unnoticed by Apophis, who had spent his time not so much fighting Seti, as just blocking and dodging him. As Apophis redirected Seti's blade with his tail, he rolled his eyes.

"Enough of this," he said, as he held out his arm, "This is taking too long." From Apophis' sleeve appeared a pole, which promptly opened into a long battle stave, and a half-moon blade then opened at the end, forming a long shafted axe. The blade had a glowing red edge, and had a snake carved onto it. It was Apophis' own personal weapon, Aspis Remwet **(Ancient Egyptian[roughly]: "Snake's Tears")**.

But that wasn't all Apophis had to show. From behind his head, spread a scaly hood, the same red color as the scales around his body. Apophis was a cobra Faunus.

Seti had just enough time to hold up and block as Apophis brought down his axe, but the force pushed him back. Apophis acted quickly, and charged Seti, swinging Aspis Remwet with such fluidity it almost looked like a dance. While Seti was able to evade most of the attacks (he was the faster of the two), Apophis was just more skilled. When ever the mamba tried to land a blow, the cobra easily parried it, and counter attacked. Eventually Seti got nailed in the nose by Aspis Remwet's butt, and dazed just enough for Apophis to grab him by the tail, and throw him.

"Seti!" Ruby cried, as both she and Yang were distracted from going after Kaa by that. Apophis then took that as an advantage. He held up Aspis Remwet like he was going to swing, as his aura, which was a bright red, lit up. All that energy then traveled down his body, and onto the axe's blade.

"You can do that with your aura?" Ruby asked in shock. Yang, who was also surprised, didn't have time to answer, as Apophis swung the axe, sending an arc of red energy towards the sisters. While they both managed to dodge the explosion, it separated them, and when Yang looked up, she noticed the cobra looming over.

In an instant, Apophis' fangs were in her shoulder, and in the next, they were out. It had been a flash, but that was all the cobra needed, as Yang doubled over, grabbing at her shoulder.

"Yang!" Weiss cried, as she ran to help her friend, but Apophis was almost instantly in front of her. As one might expect, Weiss flinched, only for Apophis to lean in next to her, close to her ear.

" _Blake wishes to kill you and your friends,"_ he whispered. From his lips appeared what looked like a tiny red snake, which slithered into Weiss' ear. Her eyes then briefly rippled red. Apophis then quickly slithered away.

"Let's go!" he called to his comrades, "We've got more important things right now!" Roland and Eve both heard those orders, and retreated, but not before both gathered up the unconscious and wounded Kaa.

"We'l see each other soon enough," Apophis said, before putting a fist to his chest, "And remember Seti, the dragon rises."With that, the snakes vanished into the shadows. Seti rubbed his head in frustration, as he watched.

"Damn it!" he cried out loud.

"Yang!" he heard Ruby call out. He turned, and saw Yang lying on the ground, clearing in pain, grabbing her shoulder. Seti quickly slithered over, and noticed puncture wounds on Yang's shoulder. He immediately recognized it as Apophis' handiwork.

"We have to get her to a hospital immediately," he said, "She has Apophis' venom in her system."

"Can we suck it out?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"No, that's the worst thing you can do in a situation like this," Seti answered, "We need to get her to the hospital. Help me with her." He and Ruby then picked Yang up.

"Blake! Weiss! We're going!" Ruby shouted. Blake headed over to them, but noticed Weiss on her knees, completely still, aside from the slight shaking. _Kill you…. Kill your friends…. Kill you…. Kill your friends…._ Apophis' words echoed through Weiss' ears, as she stared into nothing.

"Weiss!" Weiss flinched as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, to see Blake looking at her with concern.

"We have to go, we have to get Yang to a doctor," she said.

"Y… yeah," Weiss forced out as she came to her feet, and went over to the others. And with that, the five retreated, leaving the battlefield empty save for the shadows, curving like the snakes that they just fought with.

 **Note: So Yang's in trouble, and it seems Apophis did something to Weiss as well.**

 **I figured this whole chapter had to be devoted to the fight, which I hoped was enjoyable. It was mostly to show the given capabilities and details of the other OCs. We also seem to have the title here as well. Haha. Next chapter will mark some important information and events.**

 **Please review.**


	12. Dragon's Tongue

_**Dragon's Tongue**_

The team managed to get Yang to the nearest hospital, which just so happened to be in Beacon. The doctors and nurses were doing their best to treat Yang's wounds, but they weren't getting any better, and seeing as they were turning redder and redder, they were probably getting worse.

"Yang," Ruby said, as she stood next to her barely conscious sister Blake and Seti next to her; Weiss was standing a few feet away, which was strange. Yang just groaned. Seti's tail clenched in nervousness. Apophis' venom wasn't as toxic as his own or even that of Eve's, but the cobra more than made up for it by injecting far more in a single strike than either the mamba or viper ever could. Normally the venom could kill a person in just half an hour, but the doctors were able to at the very least slow the process. But Seti knew it wouldn't be enough.

"Is there anything we can do at all?" Blake asked Seti desperately.

"You'd need Apophis' anti-venom to completely negate the effects," Seti answered, "Unfortunately I don't have it."

"Do you have anything that can help?!" Ruby not so much asked as demanded. Seti cringed, as he thought about it. He then reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a small vial filled with a sickly yellow liquid.

"This is my anti-venom," he said, "My own venom is different from that of Apophis, so it won't fix the problem, but at the very least it will slow it down." He handed it off to the doctors when they came back to continue their work, before he and the others were removed from the room.

"Now, who was that guy?" Blake asked, "And how did he know you?" Seti took a breath. He knew there were was no way to make any excuses at this point.

"His name is Apophis Dreshet," he said, "He's a cobra Faunus."

"And how do you know him?" Weiss asked. Seti noticed her tone was far less demanding than normal, and when he looked at her, she noticed she wasn't looking directly at him, or anyone.

"Well, remember that family friend I told you who raised me?"

"That was him?" Ruby asked.

"Unfortunately," Seti said, "He also gave me Wadjet and Nekhbet."

"And what was it that this Apophis guy said to you?" Ruby said to you, "It was something about a dragon." Seti's tail tightened. There it was. The question he knew he would have to face at some point was finally here.

"He said, 'the dragon rises'," Seti answered, "Its the mantra of Dragon's Tongue."

"Dragon's Tongue?" Blake asked, "What's that?"

"You know how I told you about the organization Kaa and I were part of?" Seti said, "Well, that's it. Its an order of reptilian Faunus purposed for the good of other reptilians. Think of it as the reptilian equivalent of White Fang. Apophis is the leader of it."

"What's he doing here?" Ruby asked.

"That's what I was first trying to figure out when I went out," Seti answered, "Apophis rarely shows himself. If he's come into the open, then he has to be up to something."

"Then how'd you know he was here to the first place?" Weiss said.

"Kaa was here; Eve, Roland, and herself make up Apophis' top guard. Wherever he goes, they go as well. And…" Seti averted his eyes. He didn't know how to put this. That was when he felt a hand on his shoulder; it was Blake.

"If not for you, we would've lost Yang," she said softly, "You're on our side, and none of us doubt it." Seti looked around, and noticed Ruby nod in agreement. He looked at Weiss, and though it took her a moment, she nodded as well.

"Those three and I… We used to be part of an informal team," he admitted, "We were called SKRE." **(pronounced "scare")**

"'SKRE'?" Ruby echoed. She would've said that didn't sound good, but figured it was pretty obvious at this point.

"SKRE. We did a lot of jobs for Dragon's Tongue," Seti explained, "Things I'm not proud of." He then looked away.

"I came to Beacon to bury that past. But I guess it will always catch up to you someday." RWBY stared at Seti, not sure what to think about what he just told them. As they stood in silence, Team JNPR finally made it.

"Where's Yang?" Jaune asked.

"Int here," Ruby said, pointing slightly.

"Oh Ruby," Pyrrha said, as she hugged the smaller girl, "I'm so sorry."

"The guy who did this is named Apophis," Blake said, "He was a cobra Faunus, and now he's envenomated Yang."

"What do we do?" Nora askedd.

"Good question, Ms. Valkyrie." Everyone jumped, as they noticed Ozpin standing in the doorway. None of them had heard him arrive.

"I'll admit, even I didn't see this coming," he said, sipping from his mug, "You and I will have to discuss this past of yours more thoroughly, Mr. Kemet."

"Yes sir," Seti said softly.

"But that isn't important right now," Ozpin said, "Do you have any potential solutions to this problem?"

"My anti-venom will buy her about a week," Seti explained, "But you'd need Apophis' anti-venom to make it really work. The problem there, Apophis doesn't keep his anti-venom. The only way to get it from him is to milk him." RWBY and JNPR looked at him strangely.

"I'll explain later," Seti said, "But we won't be getting the anti-venom from him."

"Is there anything we can do at all?" Blake asked. Seti remembered the question earlier. Somehow it was even harder the second time. It was then he remembered something.

"Dragon's Tongue can help us," he said. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"I thought they were enemies," Jaune said.

"Apophis' faction isn't the original faction. He used to be a regular member like me. But he wasn't satisfied with the way the organization was being run, so he took it over; I'm not entirely sure how, but I left after he seized control. The members that remained loyal to the original faction and leader went into the shadows, but I think I know where they might be. Any envenomator who joins has to submit some of his venom to form an anti-venom. They should have Apophis' anti-venom."

"Where exactly are they?" Ozpin asked.

"South," Seti answered, "Far South. It will take a few days to get there. So if we want to go there, we have to go now."

"Let's do it!" Ruby said, "We have to save Yang!"

"Ruby," Weiss said, "I want to save Yang too, but we have to know if this is going to work."

"If you've got a better idea," Seti said. Weiss wanted to protest, but knew Seti was right, so she didn't. Ozpin seemed to think about it for a while, before nodding.

"Very well," he said, "You will go immediately."

"How are we going to get there?" Ren asked.

"I'll see to it," Ozpin said, "Gather what you need now, including Ms. Xiao Long."

 **(a little while later)**

Yang had managed to stand, and was being helped by Ruby towards a small airship. The rest of RWBY was there too, along with JNPR and Seti.

"Alright, we're all here?" Seti said, "Let's go!"

"Wait, I think we're forgetting something," Ren said, raising a hand.

"What?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Weiss said, "None of us can pilot this thing!"

"They're right," Pyrrha said, "We have to find someone to…"

"Salutations!" Everyone jumped into the air when they saw Penny poking her head out of the airship with a big smile.

Penny?" Ruby said, "What're you doing here?"

"To help you," Penny answered, smiling, "We're friends, aren't we? That makes Yang my friend as well. I'm going to pilot this thing for you."

"Well that solved itself rather quickly," Ren said.

"Okay, _now_ do we have everything?" Seti asked. Getting confirmation from everyone, he jumped into the airship.

"Let's go!" he declared. As the group filed inside, Weiss glanced at Blake. _Kill you…. Kill your friends… Kill you…. Kill your friends…._ Weiss tried to shake her head clear.

Soon enough, the airship ascended into the air, and stared the journey South.

Watching this from the docks, was Apophis, his hood spread. A sinister smile spread onto his face.

"Go on, Seti," he said, "This is only just beginning after all."

 _ **Part 1 End**_

 **Note: So the group is now out to find Dragon's Tongue, which seems to be the reptiles' White Fang. And Apophis is just starting to begin whatever dark plan he has.**

 **This concludes the first part of this story. There will be a brief break in the main story to that end. Can't make any guarantees when it will resume, but there will be a couple of more filler-esque chapters.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	13. Black Trailer

_**Black Trailer**_

 _ **(Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of this song by Ramsus; some is cut out)**_

 _"The cat may lurk in the shadows, but the snake is one with the shadows."_

 _(begin_ In The Shadows _by Ramsus)_

The night had fallen over the forest, casting broad shadows over the trees, with the broken moon providing what little light it could.. Slowly making his way through the shadows, was Seti Kemet, his head hung, and his hands in his pockets.

 _No sleep_

 _No sleep until I am done with finding the answer_

As he walked through the trees, he seemingly didn't notice the dark form gliding through the gloom.

 _Won't stop_

 _Won't stop before I find a cure for this cancer_

But Seti had sensed it long before it ever sensed him. He stopped in his tracks, he focused, feeling the vibrations in the ground. It was getting closer. He took a breath, and cracked his neck.

 _Sometimes_

 _I feel like going down and so disconnected_

Out of the trees, stepped the massive form of an Indominus. It was a particularly large form of Grimm, shaped like a dinosaur, though it had large, humanoid hand tipped with claws, and a back lined with spines. It was as tall as a house, and looked to be at least 60 feet long. It then held up its claws, and brought them down.

 _Somehow_

 _I know that I am haunted to be wanted_

When it checked, it didn't notice anything on its claw, it then glanced over, and saw the mamba had slithered up a tree. Seti then grabbed both his swords, and sprung at the beast.

 _I've been watching_

The Indominus' claws came up to catch Seti, but the mamba jumped off its claw when its kung, and slashed its sword at its neck. It left a gash along its neck, but Seti didn't have time to continue the assault, as the Indomnius back-handed him away. But Seti wasn't done yet…

 _I've been waiting_

 _In the shadows for my time_

Seti slithered across the ground, through the Indominus' legs, which tried to stomp him. But the mamba was too fast. Seti tried to climb the beast's legs, but got tossed off.

 _I've been searching_

 _I've been living_

 _For tomorrows all my life_

As he retreated back away from the Indominus, he looked up. Seti then decided to change his tactics. He looked towards the trees, and slithered away, vanishing into the shadows.

 _In the shadows_

 _In the shadows_

The Indominus followed the Faunus into the trees, though it simply crashes through the trees, instead of walking through them. It sniffed the air, but couldn't smell anything.

 _They say_

 _That I must learn to kill before I can feel safe_

A serpentine shadow darted through the Indominus' feet again, though the beast didn't take notice.

 _But I_

 _I'd rather kill myself than turn into their slave_

The Grimm suddenly roared in pain, as it looked down, and saw that its leg had been slashed. It looked around, but couldn't see anything.

 _Sometimes_

 _I feel that I should go and play with the thunder_

The Grimm was suddenly slashed again across the ankle, and all it saw was a black snake returning to the shadows. It let out a roar, as it clawed several trees clear out of the ground, and used its tail to knock even more out.

 _Somehow_

 _I just don't wanna stay and wait for a wonder_

The Indominus looked through the broken trees, and noticed Seti standing onto of the broken trunks, Wadjet in its sword mode, and Nekhbet in its gun mode. The beast roared, as it brought down its claw, only for the mamba Faunus to easily evade the attack. Seti then slithered up the Indominus' arm.

 _I've been watching_

He slashed the Indominus across the shoulder, and when it came down to chomp him with its jaws, it gut a mouth full of Seti's gun.

 _I've been waiting_

 _In the shadows all my time_

Seti then slithered to the beast's other shoulder, and stabbed it in the joint. The Indominus roared, as it lost the use of its arm.

 _I've been searching_

 _I've been living_

 _For tomorrows all my life_

The Grimm brought up its other claw, only for Seti to evade it, and put his hand against it. He then activated his semblance, as the arm withered away until more of a skeleton than an actual arm.

 _I've been watching_

 _I've been waiting_

 _I've been searching_

The Indominus' tail suddenly lashed up, and struck Seti, sending the mamba off of it, and when Seti landed, he noticed that he dropped both of his weapons. But that didn't discourage him, as he stood up, and cracked his neck.

 _I've been living for tomorrows_

Seti then slithered forward at top speed, around the Grimm's body. He then came up to its neck, as the Indominus looked down at him. With a flash, Seti struck at its neck with his fangs. The Indominus then keeled over, as Seti landed, triumphant.

 _In the shadows_

Seti watched as the Grimm disintegrated, before taking a breath, gathering up his blades, putting his hands in his pockets, and returning to the shadows.

 _In the shadows_

 _I've been waiting_

 _ **S**_


	14. Yellow Trailer

_**Yellow Trailer**_

 _ **(Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of this song by Disney)**_

" _Nobody truly trusts anyone."_

 _(begin the 2016 rendition of_ Trust In Me _sung by Scarlet Johansson)_

The streets bustled in the day, people going about their daily lives. Among this people, was Kaa Peela. Her scaled arms were hidden by a long sleeved shirt. While most people wouldn't go for a python Faunus, no one could deny Kaa was beautiful. That said, because people didn't see she was a Faunus, or her weapons, a number of people guessed that she was a single girl. And a few guys got some rather…. dirty ideas. Six shady looking men then started following her. Kaa just smiled.

 _Trust in me_

 _Just in me_

Kaa rounded a corner, and the men followed her, as the path lead to a small pavilion surrounded by trees. But Kaa was nowhere to be seen, as the men entered into the trees. They didn't notice the form slithering through the branches.

 _Shut your eyes_

 _and trust in me_

One of the guys was looking around, before with a grunt, he yanked into the trees, but his fellows didn't seem to notice.

 _You can sleep_

 _Safe and sound_

Another one of the guys apparently heard something, and waved over to his friends, who came over in his direction. Right then, he was yanked into the trees as well. This time he was seen, and the guys pulled out their weapons, which were mostly swords and axes.

 _Knowing I_

 _Am around_

Kaa then dropped down to the ground, with a seductive smirk. Her sleeves had been rolled up, showing her scaly, muscular arms. She then reached behind her, and pulled out Ajagar Kee Pakad, spun them briefly on her fingers, and then gestured for the men to come at her.

 _Slip into a silent slumber_

 _Sail on a silver mist_

The men charged the python, who easily swerved out of the first strike, and then parried the second one. When the other two came at her, Kaa leaned out of the way of their axes, and then slithered circles around them.

 _Slowly and surely your senses_

 _Will cease to resist_

Kaa then jumped up, and threw both of her chakram at the men. Two of the guys were cut down in an instant, and Kaa then tugged at the strings, causing the blades to curve through the air. Both the guys managed to deflect them this time, and they tried to charge the python again

 _Just relax_

 _Be at rest_

 _Like a bird in a nest_

Kaa easily blocked each one of their strikes. The guys were getting increasingly aggressive in their attacks, but Kaa had no trouble deflecting any of them.

 _Trust in me_

 _Just in me_

Another strike came down on Kaa, as the python shifted out of the way, and with a single strike, cut the man down. The last man, apparently finally learning his listen tried to turn and run. However, the snake suddenly appeared in front of him, as she stood tall, and looked straight into his eyes, as she activated her semblance.

 _Shut your eyes_

 _and trust in me_

The man, mesmerized, was frozen, as Kaa wrapped her arms around him, as if she were about to embrace him. But as she wrapped her arms, her muscles flared, and she began to constrict him

 _Trust in me_

 _Just in me_

With the man still completely frozen, Kaa loomed over him, and unhinged her jaw. She then brought the jaw down over the man.

 _Shut your eyes_

 _And trust in me…_

With the creeps dealt with, Kaa just briefly licked her fingers, turned on her heels, and strolled away.

 _ **SK**_


	15. Copper Trailer

_**Copper Trailer**_

 _ **(Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of this song by Fever Way)**_

" _People only ever wear one mask in their life, their true face."_

 _(begin_ If I had a Heart _by Fever Ray)_

Roland Copper sauntered down the road, a casual expression on his face, as his tail lashed behind him. Night had fallen over the city. The copperhead soon came up to a club, and kicked open the door. It was a dismal looking place, with a few drunks draped over the tables, and it absolutely reeked. It was one of the few places that would host reptilians without issue. Roland approached the bar.

"Need something kid?" the bartender demanded.

"Word on the street is that this a place for information," Roland said, leaning over it, "I'm looking for a black mamba Faunus."

"That's an interesting request," the bartender said, "You expect me to know?"

"No, but I expect you to be motivated enough to look for it," Roland said, as he flicked his tongue.

"What are you…"

"The dragon rises." All eyes immediately were on him.

"You're one of _them_?" one of the patrons, a fox Faunus, asked, rising to his feet.

"Your kind is wan't here!" another patron shouted. The bar tender's eyes narrowed, as he reached under the counter.

"I'd leave now, if I were you, snake," he growled. Roland just smirked, as he reached behind him.

"No, I don't think I will. Not that this place is particularly pleasant." The copperhead then pulled out a battle pole, that promptly opened up into a lance, Blood Sand, which he spun around him.

"Let's go!" With that, several people leapt at him.

 _This will never end 'cause I want more_

One guy pulled out an axe, which Roland managed to knock aside with his lance, and when another leapt at him, Roland used the lance to pole-vault away.

 _More, give me more, give me more_

When he landed, another guy came up at him, only for Roland to move out of the way, and wrap his tail around his enemy's ankle, throwing the guy off balance. In that moment, Roland thrust Blood Sand forward, and pierced the guy through the abdomen.

 _This will never end 'cause I want more_

When the next guy went after Roland, he threw the body at him, knocking him off balance. Taking advantage of that, Roland slithered at him, and sank his fangs into the thug's side, injecting his venom. The guy promptly keeled over as the venom took effect.

 _More, give me more, give me more_

The copperhead then took notice of another guy coming down at him with a hammer. In response, Roland pulled out the second part of Blood Sand, the shield, easily blocking the attack. Roland then swung the lance, leaving a gash across the guy's chest.

 _If I had a heart I could love you_

 _If I had a voice I would sing_

Roland then leapt onto a table, and looked over his enemies. He still had several left. He then opted to change his tactics, as he set his shield on the table, and positioned the lance onto it. Blood Sand then reconfigured into its gun form, with that that, Roland started cranking away.

 _After the night when I wake up_

 _I'll see what tomorrow brings_

The enemies were cut down easily from Blood Sand's hail of bullets, which left shells scattered across the floor. Roland grinned darkly, as he finished, all his enemy's seemingly dead.

 _If I had a voice I would sing_

"You just caught me a month's worth of tab." Roland glanced over his shoulder, and noticed the bartender with a tommy gun, which he fired. Roland managed to hide behind the shield just in time.

 _Dangling feet from window frame_

 _Will They ever ever reach the floor?_

The tender then turned his gun into a battle axe, and jumped at Roland, who shifted Blood Sand back into its melee mode, and blocked it the shield. He then swung the lance, as the tender blocked the hit.

 _More, give me more, give me more_

Roland leapt back, blocking another strike from the axe. The Faunus just grinned at that, before cracking his neck, and holding up his tail. Time to play his trump card.

 _Crushed and filled with all I found_

 _Underneath and inside_

The tender leapt at Roland, who easily blocked the attack. And in that moment that they were close, the copperhead acted. The tip of his tail then glowed, as he pressed it against his enemy's forehead. Images flashed through Roland's eyes, and he smirked. That was it…

 _Just to come around_

Roland then leapt back, and smirked, as the man charged. He then slowly waved his tail tip over his face. When the tail passed, Roland had a different face; the face of a woman with long blonde hair. She then smiled at the tender softly, and the man ground to a halt.

 _More, give me more, give me more_

That moment of pause was all Roland needed, as he leapt forward. The tender didn't even have a time to react, as a lance was put through his gut. Putting his foot on his chest, Roland yanked his lance out of his chest.

 _If I had a voice I would sing_

Roland sighed, as he rubbed the back of his head and took his leave, stepping over a body as he did. Now he would have to go looking for other sources.

 _ **SKR**_


	16. Green Trailer

_**Green Trailer**_

 _ **(Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of this song by Within Temptation)**_

" _Its inaccurate to say that knowledge is power, for knowledge without astuteness is just nonsense."_

 _(begin_ Truth Beneath the Rose _by Within Temptation)_

Eve Apple sat on the edge of the highway, looking over the setting sun, spinning an arrow through her fingers, as her feet dangled beneath her. She was bored, plain and simple. She'd been given this task by her leader, but very little had happened in that time.

 _Give me strength to face the truth, the doubt within my soul_

 _No longer I can justify the bloodshed in his name_

Then, Eve sensed something, as she looked over her shoulder. A large convoy was approaching, with several armored trucks, and a limousine in the center. Taking a breath, Eve rose to her feet, her tail lashing behind her. The viper then reached behind her, and opened Eden Flower.

"Finally," she muttered, as she notched one of the Thorns.

 _Is it a sin to seek the truth, the truth beneath the rose?_

 _Pray with me so I will find the gate to Heaven's door_

Eve then fired her arrow, which landed in the last convoy in the truck. She then caught the thread trailing from it, and soared after the truck, leaping off cars in the process, which swerved out of the way to avoid clobbering her. Eve ignored them, as she sprung at the truck, using the car as a booster, landing on the truck.

The drivers didn't even get a chance to respond, as Eve put an arrow in the wheel, causing it veer off course, and before it crashed, Eve leapt to the new one.

 _I believed it would justify the means_

 _It had a hold over me_

Once she landed, this time, three guys jumped onto the roof, each with a large sword in their hands, as they charged at Eve, who switched Eden Flower into its melee mode.

 _Blinded to see the cruelty of the beast_

 _It is the darker side of me_

Eve easily blocked the first strike, and used her tail to parry the next strike. When the third guy came up, she pulled out an arrow, ducked under his strike, and shoved the arrow into his side, knocking him off the truck in the process.

 _The veil of my dreams deceived all I have seen_

 _Forgive me for what I have been_

The other two guys tried to go after her again, but Eve spun the bow, deflecting their attacks again, and conking both of them on the head, knocking them off the truck as well. After that, Eve leapt to the truck in front of her. Once she was on their, she notched another Thorn, and took out the previous' truck's driver.

 _Forgive me my sins_

Eve looked in front of her. Her target was in the limo in the center, but she had to take out to the other trucks, which totaled four. Knowing, she didn't have the time to go from each one taking out them out at a time, and the fact that her target's body needed to be at least somewhat intact, Eve opted to alter her plan.

 _Pray for me cause I have lost my faith in holy wars_

 _Is paradise denied to me cause I can't take no more_

As another group of men climbed onto the roof to confront the viper, Eve fired a Thorn into the engine. Knowing she only a had a few moments after that, she leapt away, landing briefly on the limo's roof, before leaping to the next truck.

 _Has darkness taken over me, consumed my mortal soul_

 _All my virtues sacrificed, can Heaven be so cruel?_

When she landed on the truck, this time, though, she was met by a much bigger guy, armed with a massive hammer. Eve just cracked her neck, and notched another arrow.

 _I believed it would justify the means_

 _It had a hold over me_

The guard then charged at Eve, who fired the throne, though the hammer deflected it, and Eve was forced to dodge the attack. She then shifted Eden Flower back into melee mode

 _Blinded to see the cruelty of the beast_

 _It is the darker side of me_

Twisting out of the way of the first strike, Eve leapt forward, and struck the guy in the side of the head with the bow, though the guy's fat head just absorbed the blow. But Eve was expecting this.

 _The veil of my dreams deceived all I have seen_

 _Forgive me for what I have been_

When the thug brought down his hammer again, Eve kicked him in the face, stunning him just long enough for her to wrap her tail around his leg, and yank him off balance. While he was off balanced, Eve quickly struck him with her fangs, injecting her venom into his system. It worked fast, as the guy doubled over, and the viper pushed him off.

 _Forgive me my sins_

Eve then looked ahead, and noticed the trucks ahead of her. She then notched a thorn, and fired it at the truck in the very front, striking down one of its tires. The truck quickly skidded out of control, and Eve leapt off the truck, and rolled on the ground. As she looked up, the trucks then crashed into each other, and the limo screeched to a halt, barely joining the wreckage with it.

 _I'm hoping, I'm praying_

 _I won't get lost between two worlds_

The viper spun Eden Flower through her hands as she advanced on the limo, as she notched an arrow, and quickly struck down the first guard that came out of the limo.

 _For all I have seen the truth lies in between_

 _Give me the strength to face the wrong that I have done_

The next guard had a shot gun, and fired, only for Eve to easily dodge. She then quickly slithered forward, and stuck a Thorn into the guy's gut, and pushed him to the ground. However, the door opened, and something came out and knocked her away.

 _Now that I know the darkest side of me_

Eve's target climbed out of the limo. It was a big guy, with dark blue hair tied back into a ponytail, wearing a blue suite with a gold tie. He was wearing blue and gold metal gloves. He just smiled at the viper, and took a fighting stance. It didn't take long for Eve to take the initiative.

 _How can blood be our salvation_

 _And justify the pain that we have caused throughout the times_

She quickly swung down Eden Flower towards the guy's head, only for him to block with his gloves. The boss then punched up, and while Eve managed to block with her arms, she was still sent flying away. Eve then quickly fired several arrows, but the boss then pointed his finger at his enemy, and several bullets at the arrows, knocking them all down. In the smoke, Eve charged again. However, she was again easily blocked, and when she tried to bring an arrow into his throat, she was punched away.

 _Will I learn what's truly sacred?_

 _Will I redeem my soul, will truth set me free?_

Eve skidded to the ground, as she looked at her enemy. She then inhaled and exhaled, as her green aura swirled around her. The viper then held out her hand, as the aura congealed into the shape of a fruit. Eve then promptly bit into it, and ate the whole thing. Her eyes then flashed green, and she grinned, before jumping at the boss again.

 _Blinded to see the cruelty of the beast_

 _It is the darker side of me_

When Eve came down with Eden Flower again, the boss held up his hand to block. However, Eve quickly hooked it around his arm, and swung around, before kicking him in the face, though this didn't do as much as it may have needed. He then moved to attack, but Eve knew what would be coming. First was a right hook, then a left look, then a hammer fist, all of which Eve could avoid

 _The veil of my dreams deceived all I have seen_

 _Forgive me for what I have been_.

Clearly getting frustrated, the boss held up his hands with his fingers pointed at eve, and fired the finger guns at her. Eve dodged them all, and she quickly fired another arrow at the guy's face, which he blocked, having to hold his hand in his view. However, Eve then put an arrow into the guy's knee, causing him to fall down, and Eve put an arrow into his shoulder, which knocked him flat on his back. When he tried to get up, he noticed Eve standing on his chest, as she pulled back her arrow.

 _Forgive me my sins_

With that, Eve fired, leaving her job finished. The viper then looked around, at he destruction, rolled her eyes, returned her arrow to its quiver, and took her leave.

 _ **SKRE**_


	17. Red Trailer

_**Red Trailer**_

 _ **(Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of this song by Disturbed)**_

" _Any fool can seed discord, but it takes a truly cunning mind to seed chaos."_

 _(begin_ Serpentine _by Disturbed)_

Night had fallen over the city, as in the broken moon, the tall silhouette of Apophis Dreshet stood atop a building. He looked over the city in silence, watching what few people were left ton the streets return to their homes. His trench coat blew behind him, as his tail lay still. The moonlight gave his red scales an eerie shine to them.

 _See the dogs come running_

 _Smelling blood now_

The cobra then turned on his heels and walked away, hiking up his collar as he did, heading down to the street.

 _To an open sore_

 _On a parasite_

As Apophis walked down the street, which was essentially empty at this point, he could sense presences around him. His tongue flicked out, analyzing the approachers.

 _Countless hearts have fallen_

 _Hard to number_

He then abruptly turned a corner, and headed down to the harbor, knowing very well at this point that he was being followed.

 _Damnation's whore_

 _Is looking for a victim tonight_

Once he was in the harbor, Apophis stopped in his tracks, and he looked around. Emerging from the shadows were at least a dozen White Fang operatives.

 _With an angry soul_

 _And a wicked design_

From the center, appeared a mongoose Faunus. He had a large halberd over his shoulder, and he grinned. Apophis just rolled his eyes, as he held out his hand, and Aspis Remwet appeared out of his sleeve.

 _Your will cannot endure_

 _And your heart is torn away_

All the White Fang members then all charged at the cobra, who looked more annoyed than anything else, who put an arm behind his back, and held up the axe.

 _I was caught up in the moment_

 _You were alone and_

 _You seemed to harness the light_

First, a wolf Faunus came down holding a broadsword, which the cobra easily blocked. Shortly after that, a bull Faunus brought a club down at Apophis, who easily parried the strike again, all while not even moving from his place. He then spun his axe and sliced both of them.

 _Even though I felt cold inside_

 _When you told me it would be alright_

A tiger Faunus then leapt at Apophis with a pair of hook swords, as the cobra easily shifted out of the way. He then pivoted on his heel, and cut down the tiger.

 _I had given up control and_

 _I didn't focus hard enough to see_

A fox Faunus and a lemur Faunus then tried to go at the snake at the same time. However, Apophis easily dodged each strike. He then grabbed the lemur's tail with his own, and then yanked her forward. In a flash, Apophis struck with his fangs, leaving two puncture wounds on the lemur's shoulder. He then let her fall to the ground. The fox then tried to come again, but Apophis blocked, and cut him down.

 _The warning signs_

 _Your heart is serpentine_

The serpent then noticed even more enemies advancing on him. Time to take the battle to the next step. Apophis then spread his hood.

 _Damn what I'm becoming_

 _One of them now_

One operative struck with her spear, though Apophis easily dodged the sword. He then grabbed the operative's wrist, and pulled her forward. He then leaned forward, and whispered into her ear.

 _Just an opened door_

 _On an endless night_

The operative then paused for a second, before looking to one of her comrades. Without warning, she then leapt at them, striking at them in with a rage that could only be described as animalistic.

 _Dark desire burning_

 _In my blood now_

Apophis easily blocked a strike from another operative that came form behind. His tail then lashed out, and stunned the operative enough for Apophis to behead him.

 _How can I be sure?_

 _I don't know if I'll be able to fight_

The cobra easily avoided the strike of another few operatives, as he retreated smoothly, as the operatives almost desperately tried to strike at him. Apophis then abruptly slithered around them, and struck down each one of them.

 _With a tortured soul_

 _And an honest design_

As the serpent advanced forward, two more operatives came upon him. Apophis easily avoided the strikes, as he cut down one of them, and envenomated another.

 _My will cannot endure_

 _If my heart is torn away_

A massive bear Faunus then leapt at Apophis, who was forced to jump to his feet. The bear was the tallest person there, and expected to tower over the cobras he did everyone else. However, when Apophis stood, he found himself not even coming up to reptile's chin.

 _I was caught up in the moment_

 _You were alone and_

 _You seemed to harness the light_

The bear still tried to charge at him with a hammer, but Apophis easily evaded. He then leaned down, and whispered in his ear. The bear then almost immediately charged the other operatives.

 _Even though I felt cold inside_

 _When you told me it would be alright_

The cobra then advanced further, as White Fang's numbers continued to dwindle. Not apparently taking the hint, another three attempted to charge him, but Apophis then leapt this feet, and pulled back Aspis Remwet. His aura then glowed around him, before traveling to the blade. With a swing, he then sent an arc of energy, blasting all of them away at once.

 _I had given up control and_

 _I didn't focus hard enough to see_

Apophis used this tactic another few times, blasting away every would be assailant. Eventually though, the serpent, held up the advance, as he took a calm stance again, and gestured for the White Fang to come at him.

 _The warning signs_

 _Your heart is serpentine_

Letting their frustration get the better of them, the operatives all charged. Apophis easily maneuvered through the ranks, blocking each attack that they directed at him.

 _Now that I've been torn apart_

 _Will there be an end to this?_

A ram Faunus charged with its horns down, but the cobra easily jumped over him, and landed on the operative. After quickly envenomating the ram, Apophis blocked an attack from another operative.

 _Will there finally be release?_

 _Will I finally rest in peace?_

After cutting down the new opponent, Apophis continued his advance, as he spun on his heel, snapped the opponent's neck with his tail. With that, only the mongoose commander was left.

 _I'm determined to believe_

 _My prayers will be received_

The mongoose glowered at Apophis, as the naginata shifted into a sniper rifle, and opened fire on the cobra, who easily evaded.

 _With a tortured soul_

 _And an honest design_

Apophis then slithered at the mongoose, and brought Aspis Remwet down on him, but was blocked, and repulsed. The two Faunus then faced each other down, as the mongoose smirked, Apophis just snorted.

 _My will cannot endure_

 _As my heart is torn away_

The mongoose then charged at Apophis this time, slicing the naginata through the air. The cobra blocked and parried with most of his attacks. However, Apophis couldn't actively go on the offensive yet without any opportunities.

 _I was caught up in the moment_

 _You were alone and_

 _You seemed to harness the light_

After blocking another attack, Apophis' tail lashed out, and struck the mongoose in the face, stunning him just long enough to break the contact. The mongoose whirled around, and lashed out with his claws. Apophis slithered away from the attack, and away.

 _Even though I felt cold inside_

 _When you told me it would be alright_

Once he rose to his feet, Apophis slashed Aspis Remwet, sending an arc of red energy at the commander, who had to leap out of the way. This distracted him just enough for Apophis to make his move.

 _I had given up control and_

 _I didn't focus hard enough to see_

The cobra immediately appeared before the commander, and brought down his axe. While the attack was blocked, the force pushed the mongoose back. In a flash, Apophis struck the mongoose with his fangs, forcing him to his knees.

 _The warning signs_

 _Your heart is serpentine_

But this time, Apophis wasn't planning on just letting the commander die. He decided to be more hands on this time.

 _The warning signs_

 _Your heart is serpentine_

He put Aspis Remwet to the commander's neck. The mongoose, while in agony, couldn't help but glare at the cobra looming over him.

 _Evil personified_

" _Your heart is serpentine_!" the commander growled.

"I know," Apophis answered calmly, as he brought down his axe.

With the job done, the axe collapsed back into a pole, and it slipped back into Apophis' sleeve, and the cobra sauntered away, like nothing had ever even happened.

 _ **And so the seeds of chaos are sown…..**_


	18. In the Jungle

**_In the Jungle_**

Seti wasn't kidding when he said that they had to go far away from Beacon. The freelancer, Penny, and the Beacon teams been in the air for almost a whole two days, as the terrain turned into a jungle. Somehow, Penny kept active all that time. And despite Seti's insistence that they were getting close, they were all nervous, especially Ruby.

The red-clad girl was sitting beside her sister, who was actually conscious, but clearly in a lot of pain. The anti-venom was keeping Yang alive for the precious days it would take for them to get to wherever Seti was guiding them, but it didn't help much else.

"Stop looking at me like that," Yang groaned, scowling at her sister, "I'm not in _that_ bad shape."

"Yes you are," Ruby said bluntly. The blonde, knowing the red-head was right, just glared up at the ceiling.

"At least my arm doesn't hurt anymore," Yang said, and before Ruby could say anything, she continued, "Because at this point I don't feel my arm at all." She then glared at her sister again, who was now looking at the floor. Needless to say, Yang's glare fell to pieces after seeing that look.

"I'm sorry, Ruby," she said, "I know you're just trying to help." Ruby just smiled and put a hand over Yang's, which brought the teen some much needed comfort. Blake watched the siblings, and looked around the rest of the ship. Jaune had been suffering from his standard motion sickness, so Pyrrha decided to knock him out to help, and he didn't even have to ask for it, while Pyrrha sat beside where he lay, polishing her shield. Nora and fallen asleep, and was leaning on Ren's shoulder, who was looking out the window, and Penny was still in the cockpit. Seti was in the back, away from everyone else, save for Weiss, who strangely decided to sit near him; she had been quiet for almost the entire trip, except when she disagreed with something. Deciding to take the initiative Blake approached him.

"How you holding up?" Seti asked, looking up as she approached. As she did though, Weiss noticed Blake's approach, and promptly departed to the front of the bullhead. But Blake didn't have time to think about that.

"You should be asking Ruby and Yang," she answered, sitting beside him. The mamba would've chuckled, but instead he looked up at the ceiling.

"This is all my fault," Seti said, "I should've known Apophis would eventually come for me."

"Nobody is blaming you," Blake said, looking at her fellow Faunus.

"Well you should," Seti answered, as he rubbed his tail, "Apophis doesn't let things lie. He was going to find me sooner or later, and if not for me, this whole thing would never have happened. I never should've come to Beacon."

"Never say that," Blake said, grabbing her friend's shoulder, "If not for you, Kaa would've eaten Ruby, and Yang would be dead already from Apophis' venom." Seti listened to that, and took a breath, flicking his tongue slightly.

"Well, if its any consolation, I don't blame you," Blake said, putting a hand on Seti's shoulder. He looked at the cat, who smiled at him, a smile the snake returned. The two then looked out the window for a time, before Seti suddenly stood up, and went to the cockpit, sticking his head in. Weiss had apparently joined Penny up there.

"Can you find us somewhere to land?" Seti asked.

"Yes I can," Penny said, as she looked around for a place.

"Are we there?" Weiss asked.

"This is the closest we can get by air," Seti explained, "We're going to have to go the rest of the way on foot."

"Can Yang handle it?" Weiss asked.

"We're going to have to carry her," Seti answered.

"Like hell you are!" Somehow Yang had heard them, but the group in front ignored her.

"It will take maybe about a day and a half of walking," Seti continued, "Maybe less if we moved quickly."

After they landed, they unloaded from the bullhead. Penny had landed them in a small clearing in the depth of the jungle. Ruby was supporting Yang, who was trying in vain to walk on her own.

"So what do we do now?" Nora asked. Seti looked around, flicking his tongue through the air, before gesturing.

"Follow me," he instructed. With that, he lead RWBY and JNPR into the jungle.

 **(in Vale)**

Generally, Cinder used Roman and White Fang for information brokering. In the criminal underworld, people heard a lot of information. It took a lot for any of this information to earn Cinder's attention though, but when she heard word of reptilian Faunus slithering through the city's shadow, her interest piqued.

Cinder had occasionally done work with individual reptiles, but as far as she knew they had no organization. But these activities seemed more organized and controlled, like someone had taken command of them. Cinder knew it wasn't White Fang, since reptiles weren't allowed to join their ranks, and if some new players were coming into the game, she had to know. So this all certainly enough to warrant some investigation.

She and her lackeys, Emerald and Mercury, were now waiting for a contact in the docks, which was where the reptiles seemed to appear the most. True, Cinder would rather meet with the one in charge, it never failed to be cautious with reptiles.

"How long are we going to wait?" Mercury griped.

"As long is takes," Cinder answered, as she studied her nails.

"You have somewhere else to be?" Emerald asked, glaring at her partner.

"Somewhere where we're actually doing something," Mercury answered, tapping his foot impatiently, "How do we know they'll even show up?"

"Well, no reason why they wouldn't," Emerald answered, as she sat down, and kicked her legs up, "Right?"

"You can always trust reptilian Faunus to act in their own interest," Cinder said, looking into the mist, as she formed a small flame on her finger tip, "Such is the affair of the world."

"Spoken like a true mammal." Cinder was immediately fully alert, as were her comrades. As the mist parted, a female Faunus appeared on a crate over them. She had a long green tail with keeled scales, and in the place of eyebrows were more of those keeled scales.

"You Cinder?" the Faunus asked.

"I am," the black-haired woman said, with a smile as she rose to her feet, "And you?" She gestured for Emerald and Mercury to stand down.

"Eve," the viper answered, "I've heard you wanted words with my master."

"Yes, your master," Cinder answered, approaching, "And yet here you are."

"Well I'm here, so deal with it," Eve said, baring her fangs, "My master won't show his face to mammals at this point."

"Aww, does he not trust us?" Cinder sneered.

"We're snakes," Eve hissed, showing her forked tongue, "We're no strangers to deception." While Emerald knew it was coming, it still offset her ever so slightly.

"So you can either give the message to me so I can relay it, or you can not give me anything, in which case, sucks to be you. What'll it be, mammal?" Mercury and Emerald looked at each other, before looking at Cinder, who maintained her calm expression.

"Tell your master that I wish to negotiate an alliance with him," she finally said, "But you can't expect me to negotiate such a thing through a mediator." Eve listened to that, as her eyes became slits.

"I'd say 'good night', but I don't want you to have one," she said. With that, the viper slithered away into the mist.

"What just happened?" Mercury said after a pause.

"He'll come," Cinder said with a smirk.

"How can you be sure?" Emerald asked.

"I just offered the reptiles an alliance. If nothing else, curiosity will lead him to me. I'm looking forward to this one."

 **(in the jungle)**

The jungle was proving exceptionally dense, and someone was required to lead the group by hacking through the undergrowth. Currently, it was Jaune's turn, as it cut their way forward. They were in single file, with Yang in the middle, still being supported by Ruby. The only two people who weren't constantly in the line, were Seti, who was scouting ahead by slithering through the trees, and Nora, who was also in the trees, but for a less important reason.

"REN!" Ren sighed, as he looked up, and noticed Nora dropping down next to him.

"Look!" She held up her arms, showing that she had found a sloth.

"Can we…"

"No," Ren interrupted, "We can't keep a sloth in our dorm."

"But its a sloth!" Nora said, "Sloths are our thing!"

"Since when?"

"Since always!" Ren just sighed.

"Look Nora…."

"Oh thanks," Seti interrupted, having down by his tail, "I was getting kind of hungry anyway." While she paused briefly, it didn't take long for Nora to put two and two together, and with a scream, she bolted back into the jungle to hide the sloth.

"She won't be bring anymore animals for a while," Seti said.

"Much obliged," Ren said.

"I'm watching you!" Nora declared, as she returned, getting in Seti's face. The mamba just flicked his tongue, and returned to the trees.

"Don't go jungle diving, especially in these jungles," he said, as he moved away.

"Grimm?" Blake asked.

"Not exactly. Let's just say I'm not the only venomous thing in these trees."

"Speaking of which, why haven't we seen more signs of Grimm?" Pyrrha asked, looking around.

"This jungle is to dense," Seti answered, as he looked down from the branch he was on, "Most Grimm, except for the really big ones, can't move through here, and the really big ones never come this far South anyway. Don't ask me why, just don't complain." After hearing that, Blake could certainly agree that this was an ideal place for any organization to hide. Though it seemed too far from civilization to really do anything, which was the one thing Blake was still confused about.

"Can someone take over?" Jaune asked, looking over his shoulder.

"You've been doing this for only four hours now," Weiss said, "Suck it up."

"Blake did it for three!" Jaune protested.

"I'd do it, but I have to help Yang," Ruby said, and as the blonde started protest, she interrupted, "Yes I do!"

"I can take her!" Penny countered from the back, "It is not a problem." Not apparently waiting for an answer, Penny marched up to Ruby, and slung Yang over her shoulder.

"What am I, a sack of potatoes!" Yang snapped angrily, clearly not liking the new accommodations. But she didn't have the strength to struggle, and Penny was actually quite strong.

"No," Penny answered, "Potato sacks are…"

"Don't!" Ruby said, holding up her hand, "Don't say it." Penny was fortunate enough to take the hint, and Ruby made her way to the front of the line, and started hacking away at the brush with Crescent Rose.

As they were walking, Weiss, who was in the latter half of the line, looked distant. She kept rubbing her head, and looking around nervously, as Apophis' words still echoed through her ears _"kill you… kill your friends"_. Her eyes seemed to flash red briefly, as she looked up at Blake, and a shot of pain went through her head.

"Hey Weiss," Jaune said as he looked back at her, "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Weiss hissed, a hiss that would make even Seti raise an eyebrow.

They kept walking for another few hours, as the terrain seemed to remain exactly the same, with no sign of civilization. Then suddenly, Seti stopped the procession.

"Its getting dark," he said, "We need to make camp."

"We're stopping?" Pyrrha asked, surprised.

"Trust me," Seti said, as he slid down to the ground, "You don't want to wander around in this jungle at night."

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Weiss asked.

"You all want to be huntsman and huntresses, don't you?" the mamba answered, "Survival tactics are kind of important for that. Now someone help me clear away some brush for a campsite." After doing that, the group unloaded for the night, and Seti volunteered for the first watch.

As everyone else fell asleep, Seti sat atop a tree, staring at the broken moon, his tail wrapped around the branch he was sitting on. During the night, the jungle got noisy, and while he was used to it, he doubted any of his mammalian teammates were. He could only imagine the amount of sleep they were, or more likely weren't, getting. The hours passed, and eventually, Seti looked down, and noticed Blake climbing up the tree to him.

"Its my turn," she said, "Get some sleep."

"I'm not tired," the mamba answered, flicking his tongue slightly.

"Yes you are," Blake answered, as she sat next to him on the branch, and looked up at the moon, "You know, it doesn't matter what you are, Faunus or human, the moon always looks the same." Seti looked back a the moon as well.

"I guess so," he said. The two sat in silence for a time, staring up at the moon. The snake then looked at the cat, and then reached up, and pulled the ribbon out of her hair.

"Hey!" Blake said, reaching up to her head reflexively.

"Everyone here knows now, right?" Seti responded, "Besides, you look better without it." Blake briefly flashed pink, before smiling at him.

"Thanks," she said, "Its been a while since someone complimented my ears." Seti smiled back at her at that, before it faded, as he looked back down at the ground.

"When my parents died, Apophis took me in, and raised me," he said, "He taught me everything I know, brought me into the Dragon's Tongue, and even put Team SKRE together. he taught me all about being proud of being a reptile." Blake listened to that. She understood it, for someone to be close to another, and feeling betrayed and abandoned by said other. And considering what Seti just decided to tell her…

"When I was in White Fang, my partner was Adam Taurus," Blake said, folding her hands on her lap, "He was one of the most capable fighters in the organization. I admired him, I thought he could be the one to lead the Faunus to the future. But then I realized just how cold he had become, just how cruel." Seti listened to her as well, and he looked at her hand. He uncoiled his tail from the branch, and lay it over Blake's hand.

"Apophis used to do this when trying to make me feel better," he said. Blake chuckled at that, as she pulled at his tail, making Seti hiss slightly.

"Blake…," he said softly, but suddenly stopped.

"Yes?" Blake asked, looking at him. But Seti just looked back down on the ground.

"Stay alert," he said, before dropping down. Blake looked after him as he did.

As the others rested, Weiss found she couldn't, and not because of all the noise. Apophis' words continued to resonate through her mind. And with Blake on watch, Weiss found it downright impossible to sleep. She kept looking up at the branch where Blake was sitting.

… _kill you… kill your friends…_

 **(the next morning)**

The group woke up early, to continue going. Blake volunteered to be the one hacking her away through the jungle, as Seti continued to navigate through the trees.

"We're getting close," the mamba announced, looking into the distance.

"You better mean that," Yang muttered. She would've shouted it, but found she didn't have the strength to.

"She's getting worse," Ruby said.

"You don't need to tell me that," Seti said to himself. He knew the anti-venom was only a temporary solution, and considering how much venom Apophis could inject in a single bite, they were running out of time, very fast.

"You know where we're going right?" Ren said.

"Surprised it took someone that long to answer," Seti muttered to himself again, before answering, "I've bene here before so… stop!" The procession abruptly did exactly that.

"We're here."

 **Note: So we're getting back into the main story, and quite a bit seems to be happening at this point. Cinder seems to desire dialogue with Dragon's Tongue, and the group seems to have suddenly arrived where they were going. Though things aren't going well for either Yang or Weiss. We know why its the case for Yang though.**

 **Sorry this took so long, but I hope you all enjoyed the trailer chapters.**

 **Please review.**


	19. Battle in the Dragon's Lair

_**Battle in the Dragon's Lair**_

The teams were astonished to see what Seti stopped them for. It was a pyramid, and a damn big one on that; just as big, if not bigger, than the Beacon dorms. While the trees were tall, this thing was somehow taller, and despite the vines crawling over it, the black stone seemed completely smooth. It was beyond remarkable, and downright amazing. But there was one rather important question any a few people's minds.

"How can no one see this?" Penny asked.

"You'd have to ask the people in it," Seti answered, as he dropped down to the ground, and approached it, apparently looking for something, "Besides, this is just the top, most of its underground."

"So, how do we get in?" Ruby asked, as she came up next to him, "Can't we just go up the steps there or something?" There were steps leading up the side of the pyramid, to some kind of structure at the top.

"No, that's just for show," Seti answered, as he ran his hands over the side, "Come on… Come on… where is it?"

"Are you looking for a secret entrance?" Jaune asked.

"Something… like… that," Seti answered slowly, not really paying attention as he focused on the wall. Then he suddenly stopped. He then put both hands on two separate spots of the wall and pushed. A panel then opened on the side of the pyramid, and a hologram was projected. It was of a woman, but she had a reptilian tail.

" _First question: I kill all who touch me, but all wish to use me. What am I?"_ the hologram asked. In the list of things that the group wasn't expecting, this was among them.

"The heck's this?" Nora demanded.

"In order to enter, you have to answer a series of riddles," Seti answered, "Don't worry, I know all the answers." He then turned back to the hologram.

"You are venom."

" _Correct,"_ the hologram said _, "Second question: I am carried by all, but treasured by none. What am I?"_

"You are hatred."

" _Correct. Third question: I cannot be seen, nor can I be heard; I can be broken with a word, and yet I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders."_ There was a period of silence.

"Aw crap."

"What?" Pyrrha asked.

"Don't tell me….," Ren said.

"They changed one of the riddles," Seti said, "We've got thirty seconds before auto-turrets will activate, and open fire." About two of those seconds were wasted just trying to register that.

"Get ready to run," Jaune said

"Any guesses at all?" Seti asked.

"Uhhhh, government," Pyrrha suggested.

"No, you can see government," Blake said.

"Money!" Weiss said.

"You can see that to."

"Weather," Nora suggested.

"Armies," Penny offered. As Blake heard everyone guessing for the riddle, she thought about as best she could. She had to look at this from the point of view of whoever made this riddle, someone who had to be an insurgent. What could insurgents break easily, and yet was so important. Peace? No, Blake doubted that. Insurgents didn't think in terms of "peace". They thought in terms of… _That's it!_

"You are order!" Blake said, running up to the hologram, "Order!" Everyone froze as they looked at the hologram, who was silent for time, as if considering the answer.

" _Correct. Welcome home."_ The hologram then vanished, and a large opening appeared in the side of the pyramid.

"How'd you guess?" Seti asked.

"I couldn't tell you," Blake answered, as the group made their way into the pyramid. The room the entered was roughly the size of the Beacon dining hall, though it was more square, and about a quarter of the room was taken up by a large pool. Filling the rest of the room were broken columns, and other forms of rubble. The only real light was the door, and a few scattered beams of light from gaps in the stone.

"This is it?" Ruby asked, gesturing to everything around here, but Seti ignored her.

"Stay here," he said, "I'm going to going to have to announce our presence, and get them to let us in."

"I thought we already got in," Weiss said, "What were those riddles about?"

"That was just the second level of defense," Seti explained, "The first is the jungle, and the third is this. They… don't trust outsiders, especially mammals."

"So you don't know for sure that they'll let us in and help us," Weiss said, glaring at him. Seti cringed at that.

"For the most part, no, but there are some good, reasonable individuals in the organization," the mamba admitted, "So just stay here, because I don't know how long this will take. And one last thing, don't get too close to the water." With that, Seti slithered up one of the columns, and into a gap in the wall, where he vanished, leaving the teams, where they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

For what felt like a couple hours, they just lounged around in the room, really doing nothing, though a few people were getting more impatient.

"What's taking him so long?" Ruby said, as she sat beside her sister, whose consciousness was starting to wane.

"I don't know," Blake answered, as she leaned on the wall, staring at the space Seti had slithered into.

"Well, what else can we do?" Jaune asked, as he tossed a rock to himself.

"Anything would be better at this point," Weiss said, tapping her foot impatiently. Finally, Nora decided to take action against her boredom, as she leapt to her feet from her position next to Ren, and started to pacing around.

"Don't pace," Ren said, "Its distracting."

"What else am I supposed to do?" Nora said. She then glanced at the water curiously, and sauntered towards it.

"Seti told us to stay away from the water," Ren said, standing up.

"Come on," Nora said, as she stop about five fight from the water "I'm not that close. Besides what…" She didn't finish as the water exploded, as the orange hair girl was socked in the face by a huge fist. Nora went flying, and would've slammed into the wall, if Ren hadn't caught her.

"Is she…," Jaune began.

"She's unconscious," Ren announced, as he looked over Nora, "And I don't know how badly hurt she was." But they couldn't focus too much on that that point. They had to pay attention to the thing crawling out of the water.

Lately, tall people had been popping up around them, but this guy wasn't just tall, he was a practical _giant_. He stood at ten feet tall, with broad shoulders, colossal muscles, and massive hands. His skin was light brown, and his spiky hair was dark green. But what really set him apart where his Faunus features. His mouth went past his lips, with lines of massive, razor sharp teeth going up his cheeks, forming a sinister, pseudo-smile. Going over his arms were large, dark green scales and scutes He was a crocodile Faunus.

The Faunus fully pulled himself out of the water, as he slung a massive weapon of this shoulder. It looked like a combination of a sword and a club, with serrated edges that looked suspiciously like teeth. After Ren set Nora beside Yang, he and the others took their battle stances before the massive reptile.

"Identify yourselves," the crocodile rumbled, narrowing his beady eyes.

"We mean you no harm," Blake said, "We're just here to talk."

"We came here with another reptilian," Pyrrha said, "Seti Kemet."

"A likely story," the crocodile answered, as he lifted his sword-club from his shoulder, and held it at the ready, "Seti's slithered deep into his hole, like the worm he is." Blake scowled at the insult.

"Now, you've got two options: get lost or get crushed. I'm content with either one."

"My sister needs help," Ruby said, "You've got the anti-venom."

"Help a mammal?" the reptile growled, "Well we all want things don't we. Now seeing that you are still here, I've taken you've taken the latter option." With that, in a surprising burst of speed, the croc aspiring forward, bringing down his sword club. The group scattered, as the strike sent up a whirling storm of dust.

"Good, this may actually be a challenge," the croc said, his jaws making this smile seem even larger. With that, he charged forward.

"Watch them, Penny!" Ren instructed, and Penny, for the time, decided not to protest, especially considering both Yang and Nora's condition. Ruby was the first to attack, as she used her semblance to swoop around the crocodile's attack, as she reformed over him, and brought down her scythe. The croc respond by bring up his sword-club to block the attack. As he did that, Weiss made her move, using Myrtenaster to send a series of ice shards at the enemy. However, the croc held up an arm, as the thick scales blocked the attack.

Pyrrha then leapt into the air, and brought Milo down towards the crocodile's head, though he easily shifted out of the way. He then brought his fist up at her, but she avoided the attack. In his moment of distraction, Ren and Blake jumped up at him, but when they went for his shoulder, the scales deflected the attacks again.

During all of this, Jaune worked to block all the rocks tumbling down, especially since he didn't have the agility or strength to challenge a Faunus like this. As he did, he failed to notice slight movement behind him. A pairs of eyes then opened, as Jaune sensed a presence.

"What the…," he began, only to get struck in the face with a blunt instrument. Attracted by Jaune's yelp, the group turned to see a new fighter.

It was a young woman, maybe the age of the others there, if not slightly older. She had long, dark blue hair, with large eyes, one being light green, the other being deep blue. She was wearing a skintight suit that seemed to made of some strange mesh, that was patterned like scales. Btu what really attracted everyone's attention, was the long curled tail that she had. The girl was a chameleon Faunus.

"Yo, Reed!" the chameleon shouted, waving at the crocodile, "How goes it?"

"Screw off Camille!" the crocodile, Reed, answered, "These are my prey."

"Come on, like you can get all the fun," Camille said, as she held up her arms. A pair of tonfa then came up from her arms, which she held at the ready. These were her personal weapons, Tana Aloka.

"Besides, there are six of them, that's three for me three for you," she said.

"I do not think so!" Penny announced as she suddenly leapt into the fray, to face Reed, who growled. Camille rolled her eyes, though they rolled a full 360 degrees, which looked rather weird.

"Fine, you can take that one," she said, "But these are mine."

"No argument there!" Reed answered, as he brought down his sword-club again, scattering the teams again. Jaune, who's attention was on that, barely had enough time to block a strike from Camille's tonfa. Ruby, knowing that she would probably have a better chance against the smaller Faunus than the giant one. Weiss decided to do the same thing, as she jumped at the chameleon Faunus. Ruby brought down Crescent Rose, though Camille deflected it with her left tonfa. She then flipped Tana Aloka so that the short end was pointed at her, and she pressed a trigger, which fired a bullet, though the red-clad girl managed to dodge by activating her semblance, and warped away. Jaune then went for an opening, only to get lashed in the face by Camille's tail, which quickly curled back up.

"Don't get cocky, kid," Camille sneered. Weiss then took action, as she held up Myrtenaster. She then created a glyph, which she used to spring at Camille, who parried with Tana Aloka again. However, she was sent skidding back, and used her tail to catch herself on a column, after which she smirked, and she started to grow several different colors at once. Camille's hair then suddenly turned black and red, the same color as Ruby's hair. That was surprising enough, but astoundingly, Camilla's body then warped the same exact way Ruby's did when using her Semblance. Too caught off guard to do anything, Ruby was struck in the gut by the tonfa.

"How'd you…," Weiss began. However, Camille glowed again, and her hair turned the same shade of that white that Weiss' hair was. A glyph then appeared beneath her, and she was shot at Weiss, though the Schnee was able to block the strike this time.

"She can copy other people's Semblances," Jaune said, in awe. Pushing Weiss away, Camille spun her tonfa though her hands, and switched it to its gun mode.

"This is going to be fun," she said, before resuming the fight.

The fight with Reed wasn't going any better. He was proving simply too big to do significant damage, and his scales were too strong. With a roar, Reed brought down his sword-club, Iteru King, sending a shockwave across the floor, and a massive cloud of dirt. Pyrrha leaped through the cloud, and switched Milo into its weapon form, but before she could fire, Reed leaned forward, and snapped his jaws at her, with the sound of two clamps of metal slamming together. That forced Pyrrha to instead use the gun to push her out of the way. Ren then leapt up to Reed's face, but couldn't get any shot in before Reed snapped at him. Blake was initially planning on trying something like that too, but despite his size, the croc was proving remarkably fast, especially when it came to his jaws. And the legs and arms wren't much better, since they covered with his hard scales and scutes. The guy was essentially a living fortress, with teeth.

Blake's thoughts were broken when she had to leap out of the way of another strike from Reed. She desperately ran through a strategy, before she was reminded of an old fairy tale she was told when she was a child. She fired the chain at Reed's arm, where it may not have penetrated his scales, but it did get hooked in his sleeve. With a roar, Reed held up Iteru King, as it opened at the top, and the teeth folded it, turning the sword-club into a shotgun. He attempted to blast, Blake, only to get a shadow clone instead, as Blake had leapt over over his shoulder, wrapping the chain around him as she did. She then swung back around, hoping to tie him up. This caused Reed's grip to loosen ever so slightly, and Pyrrha struck him in the hand, causing Iteru King to slip out of his grip, and it to tumble away. In a moment of frustration, Reed swung his arm, and since he was stronger than Blake, it sent the cat careening through the air. Fortunately for her, she was caught by Penny.

"Are you okay?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Blake answered, as she sat up, and retracted Gambol Shroud's chain. While she hadn't done all that she may have wanted, it had caused Reed to lose his weapon, and that was progress.

"You think that's going to help you?" the croc asked, "You don't know who you're dealing with." His aura, which was a brilliant green, the flared up around him. And to the group's horror, he grew, literally. Reed grew to fifteen feet, and his muscles grew with it. It didn't take a leap to figure out that was his Semblance. He then grabbed one of the columns that was as big as he was, and pulled it from the ground.

"Not very flashy, but no less useful," Reed the commented. He then held up the makeshift, and club, and swung it in a wide arc, though the group managed to avoid it. The croc then advanced on them, holding up the column as he did.

"Fore!" the croc roared, as he swung the column down. The group started, to scatter, while Penny, however, leapt into the way, and held up her arms.

"Penny!" Blake and Pyrrha cried at the same time. However, to everyone's surprise, including Reed's, Penny had only been moved slightly, and had actually held against the stone column.

"The hell are you?" Reed growled. Instead of answering, Penny pushed him back, and held up her arms. Several swords attached to small metal threads appeared behind her, and were launched at Reed, who held up his arms. The scales deflected the worst of it, but he still took a few steps back. This gave the rest of the group the morale to charge back into battle.

From the sidelines, Yang watched, getting increasingly more frustrated. There everyone was, fighting, while she couldn't do anything but sit there and watch. Every time she tried to get up, her legs gave up and she fell back down. Now all the blonde could do was glare at the fight, particularly as it got more fierce.

Weiss skidded back, as she was pushed away by Camille's tonfa. She looked up to see Ruby going after the chameleon again, only for the Faunus to fall to all fours. Her tail then lashed out, and started parrying any attempted blow from the red-head. Camille's hair then shifted to red again, and she flashed around Jaune, who just barely had time to block. Weiss activated her glyph, and got ready to move forward, only to hear Blake shouting. She glanced over to her fight, and saw her catching Ren.

… _kill you… kill your friends…_

Weiss then rocketed over to where Blake was, and pushed Ren away.

"Weiss!" Blake said.

"What was that for?" Ren asked, as he leapt to his feet.

"I… I…," Weiss stuttered.

"Focus!" Blake said, before jumping up to keep fighting Reed. Weiss then tried to shift her attention back to Camille, but couldn't help but keep half of her mind on Blake. Turns out, though, it wouldn't make too much of a difference.

"WAIT! WAIT!" Almost instantly, Seti had slithered in the middle of everything, holding up his arms in demonstration. That made both Camille and Reed pause, as they looked at the mamba.

"Seti?" Camille asked, blinking.

"How's it going?" Seti asked, holding up his hands with a nervous grin. There was a moment of silence before with a roar, Reed charged again, only at the mamba this time, grabbing Iteru King as he did.

"Traitor!" the croc snapped, as he brought the sword-club down, only for Seti to easily avoid it.

"Seti!" Blake said as she and the others began to move to his defense.

"No!" Seti said, holding up his hands to stop them, "I'm not here to do anything."

"Oh, that old story," Camille hissed, as her hair turned the same color as Seti's.

"Look, I've already spoken with Infernus," Seti said, "He's granted us an audience."

"Infernus?" Ruby asked.

"You'll find out soon." Camille and Reed were silent for a time, as the two exchanged looks.

"If his Majesty agreed to this," Camille said, "I guess we have to let you pass. But…" She then leapt at Seti, who didn't bother to move this time, as Camille held Tana Aloka's barrel at his face.

"One slither out of line, I'll blow you're head off."

"And I'll eat what's left," Reed growled, "What're you here for anyway?" Seti jerked his thumb in Yang's direction.

"Apophis' handiwork," he answered, "I don't have the anti-venom." The crocodile and the chameleon glared at him, though neither protest anymore, as Reed suddenly shrunk until he was eight feet tall. He then walked over to the wall, and hit a switch. A door then opened.

"His Majesty's been known to change his mind," he said, "Maybe we'll be lucky." After that, Yang was helped up, and Ren picked Nora up.

"She going to be okay?" Seti asked.

"Its an easy fix," Ren answered, as he walked over to the water, and briefly dunked her head in, after which he had to dodge a fist.

"What happened?!" Nora asked, looking around.

"Long story," Ren answered, "Let's go, we've got to save Yang." With that, the teams headed through the door, into a corridor, that lead down.

"Why do I suddenly feel like a pig for a holiday roast?" Jaune asked.

"Don't be so grim," Ruby said.

 **Note: The group's finally made it to Dragon's Tongue. With quite a bit of trouble with it, but they've made it. What's going to happen now.**

 **Camille's Semblance is exactly what you think it is, she can copy another person's Semblance. Considering that she's a chameleon Faunus, I don't think its too much of a leap. There are a series of weaknesses to it, which will be revealed in time, so don't get too worried. To that end, I wanted Camille to fight those with Semblances that would be heavily used in a fight, like Weiss and Ruby.**

 **Bare in mind, the pyramid in question was envisioned with a Mesoamerican design, not an Egyptian one. That's worth baring in mind.**

 **Please review. Please.**


	20. The Dragon Emperor

_**The Dragon Emperor**_

As Reed and Camille lead the others down the corridor, Blake instinctively remained close to Seti. The feeling of this was eerie, like they were going into some kind of dark lair. It reminded her of those old stories of heroes going down into a dragon's lair.

"Yang's not looking good," Ruby announced quickly. And she was right. What little color left in Yang's face was fading fast, and she was only maybe two thirds conscious.

"Then it sucks to be her," Reed hissed, barely glancing back.

"No need to be so rude," Weiss scolded.

"Up yours!" Reed snapped.

"Nice bad of friends you have here," Jaune whispered to Seti.

"I wouldn't call them 'friends'," Seti answered, "I wouldn't even call them 'allies' at this point." Soon enough, they came upon another door, which Reed slammed his fist on.

"Quick warning, keep your head down, and stay close," Seti said, "Chances are at least half of the people here have been screwed over by mammals. They aren't going to be happy to see you."

"And some say Ursai crap in the woods," Yang said weakly, "Can we just get this over with."

"Likewise," Ruby said, "Just open the door." The door then opened right them.

"Whoa," three people said at once.

"Quite impressive," Penny mused.

The base's main hall was downright enormous, easily the size of the Beacon Tower Plaza. It was filled with tents, separate pieces of tech, and even a few small buildings. Massive lights hung down from the ceiling, and on the furthest wall, a black banner with the golden symbol of a dragon circling around and biting its own tail hung. There were openings and balconies across the wall, that presumably lead to different chambers. Moving throughout the entire chamber were dozens of different people, all Faunus, all reptiles.

"Remember what I said," Seti said, "Seriously." With that, they marched down to the floor. When they got there, if looks could kill, Yang wouldn't be the only one who was dying. Faunus were coming out of the tents or buildings, framing the path the mammals were taking, glaring at them.

"You'd think we did everything bad to them," Jaune said.

"Remember what Seti said," Pyrrha hissed at him. As they were walking, Blake looked around. She was surprised to see that only maybe a half of them looked like they could be fighters. Most of them looked like civilians, including children. All of them were glaring at the mammals, as well as Seti. But one thing Blake couldn't help but notice was what looked a rainbow glitter moving through the ranks.

Eventually, they came up to a large open tent at the end, directly under the banner, with a couple of steps leading up to it. On a seat at the foot of the steps, was a woman maybe in her early to mid-twenties, with long brown hair. As the group came over, she turned in their direction, revealing light brown, slitted eyes, with patches of diamond-patterned scales on her face. She scowled, and from behind her, rose a tail with keeled light brown scales, on the end were a series of beads. She then started shaking the tail, producing a resonating rattle sound. The woman was a rattlesnake Faunus.

"These are them, Diamante," Seti said as he stopped forward. The rattlesnake rose to her feet, and looked over them, her tail still rattling. She the then turned to the open tent.

"Well, what will you have us do, Majesty?" Diamante asked. Shortly after, they started hearing a shrill screeching sound, like something was being sharpened on a grindstone. That was when the group noticed that someone was sitting in the tent, doing exactly that. The person's back was to the group, so they couldn't see his face, and he was hunched over. From what they could see, he was tall, and muscular, and was wearing a grey jacket, with the same symbol that was on the banner on the back, only in a fiery red. He was also wearing grey pants. From what could be seen, he was bald, and the back of his head looked somewhat scarred. Coming out of his back, was a long, powerful tail with grayish brown scales. He was sharpening some kind of spear, about half as long as he was tall from the looks of it. Beside the grindstone was a small table, with an Eastern dragon mask on it.

"Um, I'm…," Ruby began move forward after handing Yang off to Jaune.

"Show some respect!" Diamante snapped at Ruby, "Do you know who you are talking to?"

"She doesn't, actually," Seti said, stepping forward, "You can't blame any of them for that." He then turned to his classmates.

"Allow me to introduce the founder and true leader of the Dragon's Tongue, Infernus Naga," Seti said, before pausing, and finally continuing, "And Emperor of all Reptile-kind." That much was certainly surprising. This guy wasn't just an insurgent leader, he was an emperor. Self-proclaimed perhaps, but an emperor nonetheless. Infernus didn't say anything, he didn't even glance back. He just kept sharpening his spear. Seti then approached the foot of the steps, and fell to one knee.

"Your Majesty," he said, "These are the people I spoke of. They are in need of help."

"Why should we give mammals help!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"While I wouldn't put it so crassly, that's a good question," Diamante said, as her tail finally stopped rattling, "But one we'll keep for later. Why do you need our help?" Seti was going to answer, but Weiss, who had some negotiation skills, decided to take the initiative.

"One of our comrades has been bitten by one of your kind," she said, 'We need the anti-venom."

"And you are?" Diamante asked, as her tail rattled briefly.

"I am Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee…"

"We've heard of you," Reed interrupted.

"Good," Weiss said, "Now you're going to help us."

"Which leads us back to the first question," Diamante said, "Why should we help you?"

"Why not?" Pyrrha asked, as she came back up, "What do you have to lose?"

"Quite a bit, actually," Camille mentioned, "We have a finite amount of anti-venom, especially that of Apophis."

"How'd you…"

"I told them," Seti said, before looking back at Infernus, "Your Majesty…."

"You have no right to address him," Diamante snapped. Infernus however, remained silent. He didn't even look back, he just kept sharpening his spear.

"So you'd rather give Apophis this victory?" Seti asked.

"No, but I'd rather prevent further 'victories'," Diamante answered. Blake then decided to throw her proverbial hat into the ring.

"People think of you as fiends," she said, "Don't give people more reason to think that." Murmurs resonated through the people assembled around them. Murmurs about mammalian Faunus mostly, while Infernus remained silent.

"Its called being pragmatic, cat," Camille said, "Why should we use precious anti-venom on a mammal we've never met, and have no reason to help?" Angry agreements were called out. Now no one really knew what to say, not even Seti. That left Ruby with only one idea. She approached Infernus, and bowed at the waist.

"Sir," she said, "My name is Ruby Rose. The girl who needs help is my sister, Yang Xiao Long." Infernus suddenly stopped sharpening his spear, though nobody noticed.

"We're not here to do anything to you," Blake said, "We need you help. And only your help."

"Liar!"

"All mammals are liars!" Further angry shouting came out. The emperor then sat up, and held up his hand, which had long fingers tipped with long claws. This didn't go unnoticed by Diamante.

"Silence!" she snapped, "The Emperor speaks!" Instantly, the room quieted down. Infernus then rose to his feet, taking the mask off the table, and putting it on, after which he put the spear behind his back. He then finally turned, and descended down the steps. His tail swished through the air behind him. The mask completely covered his face, but his eyes remained exposed, which were burning orange. Seti bowed his head as Infernus approached, but the dragon walked right past him, and up to Ruby.

"Tell me your name again," he said. His voice was deep, and dry.

"Ru… Ruby Rose." Infernus looked at her for a time, before glancing at Yang, who was still being supported by Jaune.

"So you came here for your sister?" Infernus asked, looking back at Ruby, "All this way from Beacon."

"How'd you…," Weiss began.

"Yes," Ruby interrupted., "To save my big sister." Infernus was silent for a time, for he paced around Ruby.

"So, why would do you think I should spend the anti-venom on her?" he asked.

"Honestly, I can't think of a real reason," Ruby said.

"Surely you can see my problem, then," Infernus said, rubbing a pair of claws together.

"I may not be able to give you a reason," Ruby said, "But I'm going out with the anti-venom, whether you like it or not." She then pulled out Crescent Rose, and held it at the ready. Reed instantly pulled out Iteru King, as Camille pulled out Tana Aloka. Diamante pulled out a pair of curved daggers, while several others pulled out their own weapons. The teams all pulled out their own weapons.

"Aw shit," Seti muttered. But Infernus remained still, not even flinching.

"You won't do anything," he said, "Because you know you'll fail."

"Try me," Ruby said, still holding her scythe at the ready.

"That scythe," Infernus said, "Where'd you get it?" Surprised by the question, Ruby paused briefly.

"My uncle," she eventually said.

"Hmm," Infernus said, rubbing his chin, his tail swishing behind him, "Interesting. You still haven't given me a reason to help you."

"Because I don't have any other choice," Ruby insisted, "So give me the anti-venom, or I'm going to steal it." Infernus didn't immediately answer this time, as he folded his arms, tapping his claws on his forearm.

"You're not making a convincing case." The stand off continued, as they glared at each other, and the air became thicker than molasses. Then a voice broke it.

"Come! Must we be so uncivil?" All eyes turned to one side of the room, as the people parted, revealing a new person coming forward.

"Now, now, let an old man pass." From the crowd, came what was probably the oldest man the teams had ever seen. He had a hairless head, that was deeply wrinkled. His eyes were wizened, but alert, and he had a kind expression on his face. But what really set him apart was the dark green tortoise shell on his back. He was wearing a green monks' robe, though he got put on any clothes with that shell was a wonder. The tortoise Faunus approached the group, using a walking stick as tall as he was that was forked at the top with a string of beads wrapped around the forks. Immediately, all the reptilians present, even Infernus, stepped back, and pressed their fist to their palm, bowing their heads in respect. Even Seti did it.

"Master Darwin," the mamba said respectively.

"Good to see you, my boy," the tortoise identified as Darwin said, patting Seti on the shoulder. He was rather hunched over, but he looked about a head shorter than Yang.

"Seems we've got some guests," Darwin said, turning to the mammals, "Where is our sense of hospitality?"

"But Master…," Reed began.

"Forgive my compatriots," Darwin interrupted, as he came up to Ruby, and dusted her off slightly, "Experience can just as easily be a hinderance as a help." He then moved over towards Yang, and looked over her.

"Yes, this was definitely done by Apophis," he said, before gesturing, "Someone take her to medical wing. See that she's administered the anti-venom." Words of shock echoed throughout the room.

"Master Darwin!" Diamante exclaimed. The only one who wasn't saying anything was Infernus.

"She's right you know, Ms….," Darwin trailed off as he looked at Blake.

"Blake."

"Ms. Blake is right. We can't lower ourselves to the level of the ones we claim to oppose. So let's all do what's right." There were murmurs of anger and disapproval, but apparently whatever respect they had for the tortoise trumped those emotions. Yang was then placed in a stretcher, and hurried away, with Ruby in tow, only for the red to be locked.

"You're all waiting outside with the traitor," Diamante said.

"Diamante, where are your manners!" Darwin scolded, waving his staff at the rattlesnake, "That's her sister. Besides, such a decision belongs to the Emperor." All eyes went back to Infernus, who still hadn't said anything.

"She's my sister," Ruby said softly. It was impossible tell what the dragon was thinking with the mask on, but he eventually spoke.

"There's an army of us, and only nine of them. What do we need to fear? They will be given general access to the base. You know where the restricted areas are." Ruby smiled big, and ran after Yang. Seti sighed in relief. Blake looked around again, and noticed everyone was glaring again, but the group was starting ti disperse. During this, Blake noticed another rainbow flash in the crowd, but didn't know what to think of it.

"So, now what do we do?" Jaune asked.

"Get comfy," the mamba said, "It takes a while for venom to be fully filtered out, especially considering how much Apophis can give, and how potent it is. We'll be here a few days at least." Silence fell over all the mammals.

"Well, at least we won't have to take Oobleck's midterm," Nora said with an uncomfortable smile.

 **Note: So they've made it to Dragon's Tongue, and have met its true leader, whose also an emperor. Also, its worth wondering what that rainbow flash Blake saw was. Well, one way or another, they're going to be there a while, so those questions will probably be answered.**

 **In case it wasn't clear, Infernus is a Komodo dragon Faunus. He could perhaps be considered the dragon in question. Also, I know the wise old tortoise is a cliche, but I happen to be really fond of that cliche.**

 **Please review. Seriously.**


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